The Austin Nature & Science Center offers a variety of educational science and art exhibits all year-round. Exhibits are open to the public during regular visitor hours with no entry fee, but donations are accepted. For more information, please call Visitor Services staff at 512-974-3888.

Banner that read "Wildlife", with a picture of an owl's face.
Wildlife Exhibits

Learn about a wide variety of native wildlife in our outdoor and indoor exhibits.  Meet the animals that call ANSC home and earn how you can help our animal ambassadors. 

Visitors can meet and learn about a wide variety of amazing Texas wildlife here at the Austin Nature and Science Center. Some of these animals are former pets that have imprinted on humans and have not developed the proper skills needed to survive in the wild, while many others have sustained injuries or illness that prevent them from successfully returning to life in the wild. We partner with licensed rehabilitators to provide a permanent, safe, and comfortable home for the remainder of these animals' lives. Here we can provide them daily care, quality food, enriching experiences, and veterinary assistance that all promote optimal welfare while they serve as Animal Ambassadors for their species.

Wildlife Exhibits are open to the public during regular visitor hours.

Barred owls with "Birds of Prey" title

Through a federal permitting system, we have the great privilege to provide homes to injured Central Texas birds. Many have suffered life changing injuries caused by hunting accidents and habitat degradation from urbanization. Here they can serve as animal educators, helping the public connect with and learn about their wild counterparts. Visitors get the rare opportunity to experience them up-close and learn how to coexist with these incredible birds of prey.

Hognose snake with "Small Wonders" title

There are so many wonderful small creatures that call Austin home, and you will meet some of them here in the Small Wonders exhibit!  These critters can all be found in the wild within 100 miles of Austin, and some of them can even be found right here at the Austin Nature & Science Center. Sometimes hidden, camouflaged, or just small enough to miss, here you can catch a glimpse of these special creatures and learn about their role in our ecosystem.

Bobcat with "Animal Aisle" title

We are home to a variety of animals that can no longer live on their own in the wild. Many were imprinted on humans, orphaned, or injured and need our help to have a safe and healthy life. Here they receive dedicated daily care from our wildlife keepers. Visitors can learn all about Austin wildlife and how to respect them and their habitat by being good neighbors.

How to support our resident wildlife:

Monetary donations are always welcome!

When making a monetary donation please specify that it is for "ANSC Wildlife Supplies." Mail or drop off your donation to: Austin Nature & Science Center, 301 Nature Center Drive, Austin, TX 78746

Supply donations are always welcome!

We are always in need of supplies to support wildlife care. Donations of new (never used) items may be dropped off at the Visitor Pavilion during business hours.  Receipt for donation available on request. See list below for most needed supply donations. For questions, please call 512-974-3894.

Food

Dry Dog Food (Purina adult maintenance)

Canned Cat Food (Purina ProPlan EN Gastroenteric)

Canned Cat Food (Friskies multi-flavors, HEB multi-flavors)

Timothy Rabbit Pellets (Mazuri, Oxbow, Kaytee)

Aquatic Turtle Food Sticks (Mazuri or Tetra ReptoMin)

Pigeon/Dove Seed (Mazuri, Hagen)

Wild Bird Seed Mixes (Wagner’s Deluxe Blend)

Tropical Fish Food Flakes (TetraMin)

Bloodworms (Frozen)

Meal Worms (bagged)

Super Worms (bagged)

Timothy Hay (bagged)

Red Wiggler Worms

Nightcrawlers

 

Consumables

REScue Disinfectant Cleaner & Deodorizer

Chlorhexidine Gluconate 2% (Durvet)

Distilled White Vinegar

Laundry Detergent (not HE type)

Dawn Dishwashing Liquid

SeaChem Prime Aquarium Water Conditioner

Dish Sponges

Dish Brushes/Scrubber

 

Supplies and Equipment

2’ x 4’ Plywood Sheets

2” x 4” Wood Beams

Carefresh Pet Bedding

Pine or Aspen Wood Shavings

Brown Butcher Paper Rolls

Pine Cones (bagged, unscented and not decorated)

Cypress Mulch (2 or 3 cubic foot bagged)

Organic Topsoil (2 or 3 cubic foot bagged)

Seashells (bagged, pre-cleaned)

Mini Ceramic Heat Emitter bulbs (150 W)

Mercury Vapor Bulbs - Arcadia D3EVO

50W Halogen Basking Spot Lamps

Small Mammal Chew Toys (gerbils/rabbits)

Naturalistic Reptile Water Bowls (various sizes)

Pet Food Bowls (stainless steel)

Heavy Duty Plastic Plant Saucers

Boomer Ball (10" -20” size of smaller)

Kong Toys (small or medium size)

Bird Toys

Rabbit Toys

Reptile Hides

Digital Kitchen Scale

Handheld Vacuum (cordless)

Towels (hand or bath sized)

Storage Containers (various sizes)

Aquarium Supplies:

  • Gravel and Stones
  • Air Pumps (battery powered or plug-in)
  • Air Stones (with or without power supply)
  • Algae Scrapers
  • Glass Scrubbers
  • Natural-looking Decorations
  • Plastic Plant Decorations

 

Thank you for your donation and support!

 

 

Banner that reads "Dino Pit" with a picture of sand and shovels and a fossil.
The Dino Pit

The Dino Pit is an outdoor paleontology exhibit, built for permanent display at the Austin Nature & Science Center (ANSC) located in Zilker Park. The project was developed and built through a collaborative effort of the ANSC, The University of Texas at Austin´s Texas Memorial Museum, the Austin Community Foundation, and the architectural firm of Graeber, Simmons & Cowen, which also served as project manager. The exhibit is designed to instruct visitors about paleontology through hands-on educational experience.

Dino Pit stone sign and wall with mastodon rib cage sculpure

Artist John Maisano was instrumental in the development and completion of the Dino Pit project, working to transform a large area at ANSC into an educational dig site for finding fossil casts.  Maisano modeled the casts using many of the important and unique specimens from the collections of the Texas Memorial Museum.  He created an 8' x 6' mammoth rib cage cast in bronze, for the children’s entrance to the site, as well as 19 oil paintings depicting the creatures the children will find as they explore the pit.

Other features of the exhibit include dinosaur trackways, a field collection display that highlights fossils found at the 301 Congress Avenue construction site several years ago, and an observation deck. The exhibit is incorporated into the visitor programs currently offered at ANSC including youth programs, school field trips, camps, birthday parties, adult workshops and teacher training.

Exhibit Sponsors

Paleontologists Circle

  • Ernest and Sarah Butler
  • Natural Science Guild of Austin
  • The City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department
  • The University of Texas at Austin

Explorers Circle

  • Ben and Joanie Bentzin
  • Paul Koehler Brown
  • The Webber Family Foundation
  • Energy Engineering Associates
  • H-E-B
  • Texas Gas Service

Curators Circle

  • Austin Commercial, LP
  • The Kodosky Foundation
  • Crescent Real Estate Equities
  • Graeber, Simmons & Cowan
  • Robert and Bettie Girling
  • Austin Community Foundation
  • Mattson-Mchale Family Foundation
  • William and Bettye Nowlin
  • Anne Elizabet and Will Wynn

Diggers Circle

  • Austin Natural Science Association

Platinum Sponsors

  • i2i
  • Fugro
  • Convergence Institute
  • TBG Partners Baker-Aicklen & Associates, Inc.

Gold Sponsors

  • McKinney Drilling
  • Steel Design, Inc.
  • Tri DalStephen and Stefani Griffith
  • BAiley and Beverly Griffith

Silver Sponsors

  • Capital Equipment
  • Capital Aggregates

Bronze  Gold Sponsors

  • Texas Industrial Mechanical
  • Bank of America

Support

  • Austin Bridge and Road
  • SBC Foundation
  • Aaron Concrete
  • Seasha Pools
  • Barton Springs Nursery
  • Capital City Steel
  • TXI

 

Take a virtual tour of the Dino Pit 
Banner that reads "Naturalist Workshop" with a picture of a natural history museum exhibit.
The Naturalist Workshop 
Welcome to the Naturalist Workshop, Trade Counter sign at entrance to room

The Naturalist Workshop at the Austin Nature & Science Center is unlike most natural history museums you've visited. Here you are encouraged to touch, investigate, and learn about the many different collections we have on display. How much does a sugar pine cone weigh?  Can you fit together a cow femur and pelvis?  How many kinds of minerals can you see in one rock?  Tables laden with rocks, minerals, fossils, bones, plants, insects, and more provide opportunities for all ages to get in touch with items straight from nature. Investigation tools and activities are available to help you learn more about what you see. Displays rotate so make sure you come back to see what new collections are out in the Naturalist Workshop. 

Room and window with natural history items

The Trade Counter
Trade Counter sign and cases with nature items

If you find yourself regularly discovering loose fossils, shells, rocks, or insect boxes clattering about in your washing machine, you or your loved one may be a naturalist.

The Trade Counter is where naturalists of all ages are welcome to sit down and share their discoveries with our Trade Counter volunteers, staff, and fellow nature enthusiasts. One can bring nature items, science reports, or scientific illustrations and art in exchange for points, which may then be used to buy a host of other things—rocks and minerals, fossils, insect collections, bones, shells, crafts, etc.  For a list of what is accepted for trade at the Trade Counter please refer to the Trade Counter brochure (PDF) or call 512-974-3888. Points may also be earned by reporting a nature sighting from the ANSC grounds, entries on iNaturalist (see following section) or for accomplishing the monthly puzzle (questions relating to one or more specimens, rotating monthly).

The Trade Counter is open:

Wednesday - Friday 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Saturday 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Sunday 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Trade counter Policies

Daily Trade Limit: Traders are limited to 5 unique objects per day.

Things we CANNOT accept: 

  • Anything from our site. We are a Nature Preserve and you cannot collect from preserves.  
  • Anything from birds. Many birds are under a variety of legal protections and are prohibited from being collected, so we discourage visitors from bringing any bird objects to trade. This protects us and our visitors.
  • Anything from humans (including anthropological artifacts, such as arrowheads). Similar to birds there are many laws prohibiting the trade, sell, and collection of human artifacts.
  • Anything purchased or endangered.
  • Anything that was intentionally killed for bringing to trade.  

Trade Counter Points System:

Categories

Scavenger Hunt__________________________________________________ 50

Scientific illustration or creative expression_____________________________ 20+

Marine & Invertebrate (shells, marine animals, etc.)______________________ 10+

Entomological (insects)  ___________________________________________ 30+

Geological (rocks, minerals)   _______________________________________ 10+

Botanical (plants) ________________________________________________ 10+

Paleontological (fossils) ___________________________________________ 10+

Zoological (any animal material including bones, fur, skin sheds, etc.)_______ 20+

Bonuses, awarded at the discretion of the Trade Counter Volunteer

Naturalist skills (collection, identification, description, etc.) ____________ 20 - 100+

Partial or broken specimen ____________________________________5 - 20+

Full Specimen______________________________________________ 10 - 100+

Rarity (general or particular to Texas) ___________________________ 5 – 500+

WOW factor_______________________________________________ 20 - 100+

This program exists in part through volunteer effort.  If you are interested in volunteering, please visit the ANSC home page. 

iNaturalist

iNaturalist is a citizen science project and online social network of naturalists, biologists and citizen scientists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. The Austin Nature & Science Center's iNaturalist account is a place where our visitors, program participants and staff can share their observations of plants, animals, fungi, insects and more found on the ANSC's grounds and the adjoining Zilker Preserve.  Entries can be shown to Trade Counter staff for points.

 

Banner that reads "Forest Trail" with a picture of signage describing native trees.
The Forest Trail

Right Tree * Right Place * Right Reason

The Austin Nature & Science Center’s Forest Trail is a permanent self-guided exhibit that includes forty-five trees planted and maintained site-wide to encourage the selection of native trees appropriate for commercial and residential landscapes in Austin and Central Texas. The exhibit’s artistic signage, in English and Spanish, identifies each tree with a common name and scientific name, mature height, tree facts, and whether it is deciduous or evergreen.  

The exhibit’s catch phrase, Right Tree * Right Place * Right Reason, serves as an easy reminder to do some research and ask some questions before selecting and investing in a tree to ensure a successful long-term outcome that costs less to maintain, gives confidence that the chosen tree will fulfill its intended purpose, and avoids unintended problems as it grows. 

Choose the right tree by learning key facts about it. Consider why you are planting a tree and give thoughtful consideration to the tree’s role in the landscape along with what it will need to grow and thrive. Soil types, depth, and moisture content vary widely in this region and are a key factor in tree selection. Allow adequate room for the tree to grow to its natural height and width, considering proper spacing between trees and permanent elements like sidewalks, buildings, utilities in the ground and above, and aesthetics. A tree can live between fifteen and hundreds of years, depending on genus and species, so time spent considering these factors is well spent. 

The exhibit’s theme and focus is encouraging people to choose and plant trees regionally native to Central Texas because they are well adapted to Austin’s local conditions, will sustain local wildlife, and are in keeping with its local identity. Wherever you live, please consider planting trees native to your location.

Why an Urban Forest is Vital

Austin’s urban forest—its tree canopy—is vital to water and air quality and helps mitigate the urban heat island effect. It’s a healthy and sustainable mix of trees, vegetation, and other components that comprise a contiguous and thriving ecosystem valued, protected, and cared for by the City and all of its citizens as an essential environmental, economic, and community asset.  

Funding for the trail is generously provided by a City of Austin - Urban Forest Grant. The Urban Forest Grant (UFG) has been established to promote conservation and improvement projects that benefit Austin’s urban forest.

 

Banner that reads "Honey Bee Hive" and a picture of honey bees in a clump.

Summer 2024 Update: Our last colony of Bees swarmed and left the hive. Our volunteer Beekeepers are maintaining their home in their absence and are looking for a new colony that would like to live in this hive. "Bee" on the lookout for the return of the honeybees sometime soon.

Fascinated by the European honey bee? Check out our indoor exhibit in the Visitors Pavilion to view the inner workings of a living hive.  You might even locate the queen bee herself!  Bees and care provided by Austin Bees.

 

Take a virtual tour of the Honey Bee Observation Hive
Banner that reads "Human Sundial" with a picture of a child standing as the gnomon to a large sundial in a garden.

Our human sundial was created through a partnership with MathHappens, UTeach, and the Austin Parks and Recreation Department.  Let your body tell the time as it plays the role of the gnomon, or the piece that casts the shadow on the blocks.  

Take a virtual tour of the Human Sundial
Banner that reads "Pond Walk" with a picture of people walking along a trail surrounding a pond with lots of plants.

Take a walk around our site to learn more about our pond system. Look for basking turtles at the Upper Pond. Watch the water flow below from the bridge at the Creek. Meet curious fish at the dock of our Lower Pond.

Take a virtual tour of the Pond
Banner that reads "Seed Library" with a picture of a library card catalog.

Are you an enthusiastic seed saver? Interested in learning about our native plants? The Seed Library is a place for the community to share and exchange seeds to grow at home. Bring in seeds you've collected to share and check out different seeds brought in by other members of the community. Learn more about how to save seeds and find other seed saving and exchanging resources HERE. 

Take a virtual tour to learn about our native plants
Banner that reads "Pollinator Gardens" with a picture of monarch butterflies visiting native flowers.

Across ANSC, native and adapted plants are placed for wildlife. Our Pollinator Gardens are home to a variety of plants that bloom throughout the year, creating ideal habitats for native pollinators.

Take a virtual tour of our Pollinator Gardens
Banner that reads "Art in Public Places" with a picture of a nature inspired artwork.

The Art in Public Places program (AIPP) requests proposals from visual artists to design, fabricate, and install artworks at city-owned locations around the city, including ANSC. More information about temporary exhibition of public art across Austin can be found on the AIPP website.

Permanent Installations

Arboreal Passage

Colin McIntyre, 2011.  Forged Steel, stainless steel, copper, bronze, limestone, and oak.  Courtesy of Art in Public Places.

Big Snake

Kathleen Ash and Elena Eidelberg, 1997.  Ceramic, glass, and wood.  Courtesy of Art in Public Places.  

Land Before Us

Steffany Bankenbusch, 2019.  Acrylic on wood panels.  Courtesy of the TEMPO 2D 2019 program. 

Past Installations

Wild Imaginations

Jesse Melanson, 2018.  Watercolor and digital on vinyl.  Courtesy of the TEMPO 2D 2018 program.

Mirror Cloud

Elizabeth Farrell & Clare van Montfrans, 2018.  Steel tubing and sheet metal.  Courtesy of the TEMPO 3D 2018 program.  

Tubascopes

Steve Parker, 2017.  Brass instruments, steel and tubing.  Courtesy of the TEMPO 3D 2017 program.