Birds like these two macaws are just some of the more than 350 feathered attractions you'll see at the Niagara Falls Aviary.

In a space as big as a small cathedral, under the shadow of the Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls, Marilyn and Larry Vann have created an indoor rain forest for some 350 tropical and sub-tropical birds. Opened last year, their Niagara Falls Aviary looks, feels, smells and sounds like a small jungle.

A 12-metre waterfall splashes down over rocks; tropical trees tower over a small swamp, ancient-looking ruins and a real Java tea house. Huge plants flaunt brilliant flowers. The whole space is alive with colourful free-flying screeching and singing birds.

A LANDMARK

"People come to watch the birds but the birds seem just as interested in watching the people," says Marilyn Vann.

The privately operated Niagara Falls Museum, the big yellow-brick building that now houses the aviary, has long been a Niagara Falls landmark.

It was Marilyn Vann's idea to turn it into an aviary. She's a Niagara Falls native; her husband is from Pennsylvania. They have both spent years in the outdoor display and advertising business.

After they bought the empty old museum building, they pondered over what kind of new attraction they could put into it to complement the Niagara Butterfly Conservatory, the Niagara Parks Commission greenhouses and the world-famous falls.

Marilyn, who loves Ontario's native birds, came up with the idea of a tropical aviary. Market research showed a niche for such a venture and the Vanns set up a company and hired George Rason to design and plan the project. For 21 years he had been Curator of Birds at Metro Toronto Zoo. After years of planning and construction, the aviary opened on July 1, 2003.

With Rason as curator, it now has 50 people on staff, including a botanist, horticulturist, teachers and multi-lingual tour guides. Schools and adult-education groups come from all over Ontario and New York State to learn about tropical birds and how they live and breed in aviary conditions.

Three main divisions occupy the big wheelchair-accessible building. The small bird section is full of little colourful birds and is well worth a visit in itself. A dim Nocturnal Gallery houses owls, bats and other night-flyers plus a few caged snakes and other reptiles as well as an old aircraft that looks as though it had crashed into a jungle.

RAIN FOREST

By far the biggest section is the tropical rain forest, extending through three levels of the building. Here you can buy cups of nectar to feed lorykeets at posted feeding times.

You can also get tea or coffee in a tea house reconstructed from the original structure in Java.

Staffers estimate the aviary has more than 350 birds of about 75 species. A central theme is Birds of the Lost Kingdom which is supposed to invite visitors to imagine they have been transported back in time in search of a legendary era. When you enter, you get bird guides with coloured pictures of many of the birds.

A toucan.

The aviary is open seven days a week, all year, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $14.95 plus tax for adults, $13.95 for seniors and $9.95 for kids. Parking is free.

Call 866-994-0090 or visit niagarafallsaviary.com.