Manifest Destiny (PA): National Aviary in Pittsburgh (with photo gallery)

Cassidy and I made a return trip to Pittsburgh about two weeks ago as part of a mini-summer getaway. The city is so big that we had to make a list beforehand of places we wanted to visit.

We originally had the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium in mind as one option, even though we've visited it before. Both of us enjoy animals, and the Pittsburgh Zoo has a great selection -- in addition to it being one of the few zoos to have its own aquarium. However, we wanted to try something new this time around.

That's when we remembered Pittsburgh has the National Aviary -- a "zoo" dedicated solely to birds. I have always been fascinated with birds, especially since my family has owned a cockatiel for the past few years.

He's a pet cockatiel with the heart of a soaring eagle.

We decided to make the aviary the first destination on our trip. After visiting it, I can say it was the best way to start our mini-vacation.

The aviary has an impressive assortment of birds -- about 500 birds spanning 150 species, according to its website. The birds are divided into regions, including grasslands, tropical rainforests, wetlands and more. These rooms are climate-controlled to imitate the habitats the birds came from. For example, the grasslands room was hot and dry, while the tropical rainforest exhibit was boggy and warm.

In almost all of the exhibits, the birds were free-roaming. Several of them darted past us, just inches from our heads as we walked around. Others sat on top of branches or speaker posts watching with curiosity. In most cases, the birds went about their business without interruption, as if the groups of people nearby were nonexistent.

I could ramble on about all the types of birds and the exhibits, but I took so many photos for this post that I'm going to switch my focus from text to art.

These are just a few of the birds out of the several Cassidy and I saw on our trip. I recommend anyone visiting Pittsburgh who likes birds to take some time to stop at the National Aviary. We got through the entire aviary in less than two hours, and the prices for parking, admission and food were reasonable.

For additional information, you can visit the aviary's website here for rates, events and more. Enjoy the photography.