Montecasino Bird Gardens

barn owl

Johannesburg's best kept secret!

Experience the wonder of the Montecasino Bird Gardens - the only facility
of its kind in Africa. Here, families and nature-lovers can marvel at:

The largest and most diverse private collection of African cycads in the world
A collection of over 142 species of birds
Montecasino Bird Gardens is home to over 1 000 birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and other small creatures
Flight of Fantasy (A breathtaking display of many birds in unrestrained
flight during the course of an educational and entertaining 40-minute presentation).
Morning and afternoon shows.

Meet some of the colourful characters at the Montecasino Bird Gardens

Oliver our Southern White Pelican
Oliver is the Star of the Flight of Fantasy Bird Show. He is also the biggest the big that we have in our show. Pelicans are known as the scavengers of the oceans and also co-operative hunters. They swim in a horseshoe shape in order to gather fish. They then close that horseshoe, to form a circle and all put their heads into the water at the same time to get as many fish as possible. Their pouch, under their top bill, is not used as a storage devise, but rather as a holding device and is very elastic. Their bottom jaw, attached to the pouch, is very flexible.

Red-Ruffed Lemur
Our Red-ruffed Lemurs, live on the "Lemur Island". Lemurs are unable to swim, and if they got into the water, would simply sink. They are found ONLY on the island of Madagascar and nowhere else. Lemurs are very clean animals and spend a lot of time grooming themselves and each other. The lower incisors (front teeth) and the claw on the second toe of the hind foot are specially adapted for this behaviour. The lower incisors grow forward in line with each other and are slightly spaced. This creates a "tooth comb" which can be used to groom their long, soft fur. The claw is also used for grooming.

Have you ever seen a Sloth?
Well, your chances of seeing this interesting South American animal is pretty good, as it only moves approximately 1 kilometer in a month. Everything they do is slow - it takes about a week for a Sloth to digest one meal. They spend most of their lives hanging upside down in trees, and eat, sleep, mate and even give birth in trees.

Moholoholo our Cape Vulture
Moholoholo was given to us by Brian Jones, who has the Moholoholo Rehabilitation centre in Houtspruit. He was brought in because of severe poisoning. Farmers had been lacing carcasses with poison to get rid of the jackals that were targeting there sheep. Moholoholo and his family of 18 came across a sheep's carcass and ate from it. Moholo was the only one who survived the poisoning. He had to be taught how to walk and fly all over again. He is one of our ambassadors at show.

Our beautiful Chameleons
We have three chameleons on display - one veiled and two oustalets chameleons. Chameleons have very long tongues (sometimes longer than their own body length) which they are capable of rapidly extending out of the mouth. The tongue extends out faster than human eyes can follow, at around 26 body lengths per second. The tongue hits the prey in about 30 thousandths of a second. The tongue has a sticky tip on the end, which serves to catch prey items. The tongue's tip is a bulbous ball of muscle, and as it hits its prey, it rapidly forms a small suction cup. Once the tongue sticks to a prey item, it is drawn quickly back into the mouth, where the chameleon's strong jaws crush it and it is consumed. Even a small chameleon is capable of eating a large locust or mantis.

Some (but not all) chameleon species are able to change their skin colours. Recent research indicates that they do not change their colour for reasons of camouflage, but according to their mood, as even a blind chameleon can change colour as a method of communication, including to make themselves more attractive to potential mates.

For inquiries or more information:
Email: info@break-away.co.za