Filey Bird Garden & Animal Park Review

Last week, my family and I visited the Yorkshire Coast and since no holiday is complete without a zoo, we visited the Filey Bird Garden & Animal Park just down the road from where we were staying.

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Name: Filey Bird Garden & Animal Park
Location: Filey, North Yorkshire (England)
Foundation: 2008
Size: 5 acres (2 hectares)
Animals: 65 species (estimated)

Memberships: None
Website: https://www.fileybirdgarden.com/

This family-run zoo opened in 2008 but this was my first time visiting it. In the past, I assumed it was just a few aviaries in someone's back garden so I always passed up on it in favour of bigger zoos in the area. As it turns out, over the past few years, the zoo has expanded and diversified its collection, to a point it is now comparable in size to those other zoos.

The zoo is set across 5-acres and consists of around 45 different exhibits, featuring small and large mammals, reptiles and, of course, birds.

It's your typical small British zoo but what makes it stand out is how beautifully it's presented. A lot of effort has gone into presentation, both of the exhibits and the gardens around them. It's definitely worth visiting in the spring or summer just so you get the full experience and see it at its best.

The entrance is modest, with a ticket office, a small gift shop, a toilet block and a little cafe. The staff attending them were all welcoming and friendly. We visited on an overcast morning on a weekday so it was quiet. There's a linear path circuit, which passes by every enclosure, plus printed and digital maps, though they're not up-to-date. The adult admission is £9.95, which is average for this kind of zoo, and it's one of the few zoos I've been to where dogs are allowed on-site.

This is the immediate view on entry, with the lovebird aviary on the left.

The first enclosure you see is a wooden aviary for lovebirds. It's a good size and offers a lot of shelter and natural perching options for the birds. A big spiky plant (sorry, not a plant guy!) gave it a slightly tropical feel.

The path then turns a corner and carries on straight, skirted on one side by a thick wall of lush vegetation, whilst on the other, an open-air enclosure for a mix of domestic waterfowl and poultry. The enclosure is mostly grass, landscaped with a few bushes and trees, and features a small plastic pond. Connected to it is a row of wooden cages where the same animals are also kept (presumably overnight), as well as a separate cage for golden pheasants.

Opposite this row of cages is a large open-air meerkat enclosure, surrounded by a low concrete wall that has three small viewing windows cut into it. A natural substrate, lots of tall plants and various logs  combine to make for a very attractive exhibit. There's a small building at the back, which lets you see their indoor enclosure, though it's very basic. Next to it though, is an attractive uromastyx exhibit.

The meerkat enclosure was built in 2017 to commemorate the zoo's tenth year anniversary.

From here, the path widens to accommodate a cluster of enclosures and it becomes apparent that the whole zoo shares a uniform style throughout: all the wood and plaster is painted an attractive brown and tan colour scheme, and it all looks fresh.

In the centre, there's a row four hexagonal enclosures. The first one, a wooden aviary, belongs to ring-necked parakeets. It's a great size, with lots of natural climbing furniture and plants. Then there's a low-fenced enclosure for guinea pigs and rabbits, with a large hutch in the centre, surrounded by grass. A similar enclosure follows for Hermann's tortoise and Horsefield's tortoise, but it's a lot more overgrown.

A row of four hexagonal enclosures sit in the centre of the zoo — this one belongs to ring-necked parakeets.

The next hexagonal enclosure belongs to one of this zoo's least common species: Asian leopard cat. It lives in a densely-planted enclosure, fitted with a variety of wooden platforms, and is enclosed on almost every side by tall glass viewing windows and a mesh roof. There's a small den on one side with a viewing window to look into it. This is the second leopard cat enclosure I've seen and it's definitely the nicer of the two, although I'd love to see some shade around the viewing areas as reflections on the glass made it hard to see through.

The leopard cat enclosure features lots of platforms and foliage, and is a great size for a small cat.

Running parallel to the above is a wall of enclosures. The first is a vivarium for a corn snake, which is housed in a small free-standing building. The vivarium is quite snug but it's furnished naturalistically with lots of greenery and logs. Next along is two large glass-fronted cages, with a little on-show house in-between them. The first enclosure belongs to Prevost's squirrels and is very spacious for such a small species. There's lots of natural climbing furniture and plants, as well as an empty pond. The next one is a lot denser with foliage and belongs to common marmosets. It features a complex network of rope and branches, and lots of enrichment items. One interesting feature of this enclosure is a little glass box that protrudes out the side and lets the marmosets "step out" of their enclosure.

The common marmoset enclosure features a glass box that they can use to "step out" of their enclosure and see the wider world.

The next two enclosures share a similar structural design to the two before but are mesh-fronted. The first holds an umbrella cockatoo, as well yellow-naped amazon, blue-fronted amazon and orange-winged amazon. The other holds blue-and-yellow macaw, as well as Himalayan monal. These aren't geographically-accurate mixes but it seems to work for the birds. Both aviaries are spacious, with a range of perching options available and have enough greenery to make them look naturalistic and attractive.

The enclosure that follows is probably one of the least attractive ones. Parma wallabies live in a wooden cage that's in dire need of a fresh lick of paint and has very little in the way of greenery. On the upside, it's got a natural substrate and is a decent size for such a small macropod.

The zoo then opens up to much larger open-air enclosures and paddocks. The first one belongs to African spurred tortoises. They're enclosed by a low concrete wall and have access to a sizable lawn and an on-show house. It's a good size and when the saplings mature, it will look a lot more green and pleasant. 

A somewhat recent addition to the zoo is a new African spurred tortoise enclosure.

Nearby, there's a very attractive wildlife pond where you can spot a variety of native wildlife. There's a few more enclosures nestled away nearby, including a mesh cage for Eastern chipmunks, furnished generously with branches, as well as an aviary for budgerigars. The most interesting aviary here was shared by a barn owl and Dutch bantam chickens — two animals I never imagined were safe to mix but apparently they are.

You then enter the beautifully-maintained, colourful and aromatic formal garden, which is surrounded by aviaries. Some of these aviaries are a little drab and not as pristine or colourful, but they're at least a good size and well-stocked. Cockatiel, eastern rosella and red-fronted kakariki share one aviary, whilst diamond dove, canaries, Java sparrow, Chinese painted quail and Bourke's parakeet share another. Elsewhere you can find common myna, star finch, Bicheno finch, Heck's grassfinch and Gouldian finch. The prettiest aviary, which has a lot of greenery and a small pond, contains Mandarin duck, red crested turaco, Asian glossy starling, common emerald dove and crested partridge. Just outside the formal garden, you can find a pleasant aviary for African grey parrots, which is decorated with lush bamboo.

A row of bird aviaries on the edge of the formal garden

Nearby, there's a spacious wooden cage for black-and-white ruffed lemurs, which is packed with natural climbing furniture and landscaped with some plants and a thick lawn. There's several viewing windows looking in, including three which are shielded from the sun by a shade structure. Their indoor accommodation is on-show but favours function over form.

There's lots of climbing to be had in this spacious ruffed lemur enclosure.

The next area is dominated by grass paddocks, all of which are pretty nondescript, featuring at most a shelter, some grass and maybe a few rocks and trees. The first one belongs to miniature zebu, whilst another holds donkeys and Shetland ponies. The largest and most central one belongs to alpacas and sheep (possibly Balwen Welsh mountain sheep). Patagonian maras and red-necked wallabies share another paddock that also features a small sandpit. At the very top, there's a paddock for goats, which features a little grassy mound, and another for greater rheas.

General view of the paddocks ahead

The path then loops back to the entrance, passing a low-walled enclosure for raccoon dogs that's furnished with a climbing frame, some bushes and a shelter. The low walls and viewing windows give you great views from nearly all angles. There's a similar enclosure behind for striped skunks but half the size.

This is one of the nicer raccoon dog enclosures I've seen in zoos comparable to this one.

One of the latest developments is next, named Reptile Realm, which is basically this zoo's reptile house, although the visitor space is open-air. 

The exterior of Reptile Realm, which opened a year ago

All the exhibits here are spacious and furnished naturalistically with lots of faux rock, branches and plants. One exhibit belongs to a huge reticulated python, which is over 4 metres in length, whilst smaller tanks belong to panther chameleon, giant day gecko and dwarf yellow-headed gecko. Two semi-aquatic exhibits feature Cuvier's dwarf caiman and plumed basilisk, with the latter having an underwater viewing window. These were all high quality exhibits, on par with those you'd see at major zoos, although the caiman one was hard to see into with all the condensation.

There's some top quality reptile exhibits in the newly-built Reptile Realm, although they're not the easiest to see into due to reflections and condensation.

Finally, you come across a large wooden cage for South American coatis. It features a tall climbing frame, some logs, rope and a natural substrate. A fun feature of this enclosure is the viewing area extends inside the cage, with a plexiglass roof allowing the coatis to stand above you. There's a combination of glass and mesh viewing and their indoor quarters is fully on-show but basic.

The coati enclosure has a viewing area where the coatis can stand above you.

As far as I know, the zoo isn't involved in any breeding programmes but it does have a few projects to support local wildlife. Education is also apparent in detailed signage on every enclosure and regular keeper talks, although some exhibits would be more educational if they didn't mix animals from different geographic ranges (like the macaws and Himalayan monals, for example).

Overall, I was very impressed by my visit to this zoo and so were my family who aren't always easy to please. For such a small, low budget zoo, it really does punch above its weight and proves you don't always need the biggest budget to have attractive and enjoyable exhibits. If you're in the area, it's definitely worth a visit.