Large Bird House, 1911. Constructed in 1905 and designed by Heins & La Farge (the designers of the original IRT subway stations), the Large Bird House is a neo-classical structure of limestone, brick, and terra cotta. The sculpture and reliefs on the building, including the life-size eagle over the door were created by Alexander P. Proctor. Proctor, a prolific sculptor, also created pieces for three other zoo buildings, and was the artist behind the three pumas that watch over the Third Street entrance to Prospect Park. The building originally housed more than 1500 avian specimens.

America adopted the bald eagle as the emblem of the United States of America in 1782. The eagle symbolized strength, beauty, long life, flight, and freedom, characterized by its lofty flight and mountain top nesting. It not surprising then, with these idolized attributes, that the eagle would become an oft-seen decorative feature in architecture and memorial sculpture. In New York, a city that prides itself on its role as a powerful, resilient, and endlessly innovative center of financial, political and cultural life, the eagle has been incorporated into the built environment. Architects, designers, and sculptors have decorated their banks, civic buildings, statues of war heroes, skyscrapers, and airports (of course) with the noble birds. To see them, you usually just need to look up.

The Bronx Zoo was founded by the Wildlife Conservation Society in 1899. Since its inception, it has dedicated itself to the conservation of the natural world - displaying 6,000 animals across 256 acres in replicated habitats.