With flashes of orange, yellow, brown, and blue, hundreds of butterflies alight each summer at Brookfield Zoo in an amazing outdoor area. Get “eye to antenna” with hundreds of butterflies native to North America flying freely around you!
Each week, hundreds of new butterflies leave their "emergent chambers," where staff closely monitor their progress. When the butterflies are ready to take wing, the doors are opened and the butterflies fly off to their new homes—on the leaves and flowers of the native plants grown especially for them.
Wander in the screened garden, along a path that winds past bubbling waters, as these winged jewels alight nearby. For a really close-up look at a butterfly’s lifestyle, keep an eye out for zoo docents and keepers, who will help you see how nature unfolds. Sometimes there will be eggs, sometimes caterpillars, and sometimes chrysalises (a special growth that signals the last stage from caterpillar to butterfly).
Take some of the magic home with you and visit the Butterflies! Gift Shop for jewelry, books, and butterfly attire, or learn how to create your own butterfly garden.
The Butterfly Exhibit is closed for the season, but will re-open in May of 2008.