Abstract
Butterfly World at 3600 West Sample Road, Coconut Creek, Florida opened its doors in 1988 about 10 miles north of Fort Lauderdale in sunny South
Florida. It was the first exhibit of its kind in the Western Hemisphere and remains the largest butterfly house in the United States. Five thousand butterflies dwell among three acres of
exotic tropical flora. Tourists, local residents, and thousands of children on school field trips, enjoy the kaleidoscope of colors provided by butterflies representative of 80 different species from five continents. Park visitors of all ages are fascinated by the many caterpillars that can be observed in various stages of metamorphosis. Some visitors are lucky enough to witness the release of newly hatched butterflies.
Nature's "winged flowers" are not the only flying creatures of the tropical gardens. Visitors often are surprised to find 150 birds in a park that is dedicated to butterflies. Beautiful hummingbirds, finches, and honeycreepers are right at home in this tropical setting. Lories and Lorikeets were a natural choice for Butterfly World because they thrive on pollen and nectar, the same diet that the butterfly and hummingbird residents enjoy.
Realizing a Dream
Butterfly World was built by partners, Ronald Boender of the United States and Clive P. Farrell of England. Ronald Boender grew up in Illinois with his Dutch-born parents and had a lifelong fascination with butterflies. When he moved to Florida in 1968 after a successful career as an electrical engineer, he decided to pursue his earlier interest. The butterfly farm, aviary, museum, and gardens of Butterfly World located inside the 600-acre Tradewinds Park are the culmination of a long-term dream of Boender. Butterfly World is not only a Jiving butterfly farm that took years of work to perfect, it is a center for research and education. The lush tropical park, butterfly hatchery, aviaries, and all the creatures in residence are diligently tended by Boender and his lovely wife, Grace, as well as an accomplished staff including Bird Curator, Greg Stoppelmoor.
Stoppelmoor and his young family migrated from Iowa to enjoy the tropical climate of South Florida where he has worked with various large collections of exotic birds. He has busied himself for the last few years studying and managing the birds of Butterfly World. His working knowledge of the birds in the park is extensive, and his
awareness of the details of their daily lives is quite amazing.
As we toured the park, Stoppelmoor provided many interesting facts and personal observations about the birds. His awareness of the interactions between various birds, including the pairs of tiny hummingbirds, was amazing. He knew just who was courting whom in the hummingbird community and he knew all the areas likely to be frequented by individual pairs. Besides pointing out current nest sites and new nests recently started, he could accurately predict many of the birds' movements. I got the distinct impression that Butterfly World's Bird Curator was right at home in the rain forest with his feathered charges.
The plant life at Butterfly World is as eclectic as the bird population. Many of the hundreds of flowering plants were planted specifically for the butterflies. Stoppelmoor explained, "The birds are housed in walk-through aviaries in natural settings of trees and flora from around the world. Most of the birds at Butterfly World live off nectar and/or a fruit diet. We feed Nekton products as well as a wide array of fresh fruits. Along with the diet we provide, the birds also have their choice of nectar from the many flowering plants that line
the walkways of the aviaries."
Paradise Adventure and Tropical Aviary
These two aviaries are connected to form 8,000 square feet of screened jungle that rises to a height of 27 feet. The enclosure is home to thousands of butterflies in a natural rain forest setting complete with flowers, trees, waterfall, cave, and cool tropical mist. Six hummingbird species thrive in this natural setting. The four species native to South America are the Sparkling Violet Ear Colilbri coruscans, Amazilia Emerald Amaziiia amazilia, Peruvian Sheartail Thaumastura cora, and the Violet Euphonia Eupbonia uiolacea. The Broad-billed Hummingbird Cynanthus latirostis comes from Arizona, while the Japanese White-Eyes Zosteropes japonica is from Asia.
Two Hummingbird species, the Calibri coruscans and the Amazilia amazilia, presented Butterfly World with its first successful fledglings in the early part of 1999. These youngsters fly freely within the enclosure. Stoppelmoor said that they hope for more additions since the Calibri coruscan has started construction on her first nest of this breeding season. The South American Hummingbirds' breeding season starts in November and continues through March.
Another inhabitant of this enclosure, the Euphemia oiolacea, is a very prolific breeder and usually nests in the spring and summer. They are great nest builders and weave their ovalshaped nests in the crooks of trees. The nests are made from long dried leave strands and coconut fibers gleaned from the fibrous coconut she1ls hung in the trees for them. They lay up to five eggs but Stoppelmoor reports that no more than two babies have fledged from a single nest.
The most recent bird introduced into the aviaries of Butterfly World is the ] apanese White-eye Zosteropes japonica, named for the white ring around its eyes. It is hard to locate this bird within the aviary since it spends most of its time darting from limb to limb high in the trees searching for small insects that live under leaves.