"Taking Flight: The World of Birds" features exhibits on all aspects of bird life, ecology, and evolution, from courtship to eggs, nesting and parenting, to feeding and flight. The museum's bird collection includes nearly all species recorded as residents or seasonal visitors to Iowa, with over 1,000 birds on display. 

There is an interactive computer station on bird sounds, a life-sized model of a Wandering Albatross with a real, fiber-optically illuminated skeleton inside, and a video presentation on bird flight. 

The Hall of Birds houses the historic 1914 Laysan Island Cyclorama which gives visitors a 360-degree view of a Pacific Island teeming with bird life.