American Museum of Natural History Butterfly Conservatory Feeders

Butterflies are important harbingers of environmental change. The conservatory and feeders offer not just a visceral experience, but also an opportunity to learn about butterflies in their active role to support diverse ecosystems. Visited by millions of children and adults, the vivarium transforms the museum space into a fecund humid escape, inviting people to encounter hundreds of fluttering, iridescent butterflies among blooming tropical flowers and lush green vegetation. Biomorphic feeders highlight their fragile life cycle and why it is critical that we protect these precious specimens. Every feeder is molded from recycled plastic waste found in the ocean.  

 The Butterfly Conservatory is jubilant and enchanting as it transports visitors out of their everyday lives into a dreamlike setting teeming with flourishing life. The feeders are the unmistakable focal point. This is where the butterflies find respite, nourishment, and calm. It is a chance to observe them in their most natural state. They are attracted to the intense coloration, multifaceted flowering shape, UV lighting, and material textures. Each feeder is a spectacle for butterflies to bathe, cool off, eat, and sometimes procreate.     

 Visitors interact with butterflies as they stroll along a winding pathway surrounded by tropical plants, vibrant blossoms, and dozens of specialized feeders. Powerful halide lamps shine down from the ceiling, simulating the sunlight that streams through a rain forest and concentrates on the feeders. In the vivarium, monarchs, zebra longwings, paper kites, and other butterfly species flutter among people and plants. Finally, QR tags on the feeders explain how scientists rely on wild butterflies to gauge the health of an ecosystem and how the Museum’s butterfly varieties offer a wealth of information to researchers around the world.

Credits:  Mitchell Joachim, Vivan Kuan, Zack Saunders, Nina Edwards Anker, Nicholas Gervasi, Xinye Lin, Sabrina Naumovski, Rita Wang.