The Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science offers visitors the chance to explore a lush environment. It contains between 1,500 and 2,000 butterflies and releases 10 to 200 into the habitat daily. The center also features resident tortoises and iguanas.
After closing for maintenance construction, the center reopened on March 10, 2024, with a new addition: 10 birds. Although it housed parrots since its opening, the center removed them; the parrots became disruptive to the butterfly environments. As the center’s director describes it, the center added the new birds to to add realism to the simulated rainforest experience.
The closure for maintenance allowed the birds to acclimate to their new home in relative peace. The center's staff coordinated with other butterfly gardens to identify avian species that would coexist well with their Lepidoptera counterparts. Smaller-sized additions include birds such as diamond doves and orange-cheeked waxbills, with only one larger bird, an Alexandrine parakeet, added.
