FAMILIES visiting the Cotswolds over the Bank Holiday Weekend will be able to get a close view of those lovable, friendly and comical flightless birds – penguins.

Birdland Park and Gardens at Bourton-on-the-Water is giving visitors a chance to see their King Penguins and Humboldt Penguins – the attraction’s most famous residents - being fed twice each day.

The King Penguins, the second largest of the species, is usually found in the northern reaches of the Antarctic and sub Antarctic islands, as well as temperate islands like the Falklands and Tierra del Fuego.

The medium-sized Humboldts originate in South America – breeding in coastal regions of Chile and Peru. Birdland visitors can see them being fed at 11am and 2.30pm each day.

As well as feeding these affable birds, keepers will be talking to visitors about caring for penguins and introducing them to the characters that inhabit Birdland’s Penguin Shore.

Visitors can also stop at the River Windrush to see the fabulous flamingos being fed. There are six species of flamingo and Birdland has two species for visitors to meet - the Greater and Caribbean. All flamingos are pink and obtain the colour from their diet of crustaceans.

There is a vast array of fascinating birdlife to discover at the park and Birdland has expert keepers who know all about their feathered friends, so people are advised to look out for the 'Meet a Keeper' station in the park and learn something new.

People can head to the hatchery to see the eggs in incubation and meet the newest additions to the Birdland family as they hatch. Summer is the perfect time to meet the babies!

There are a newly hatched are a pair of white necked crane chicks – the first crane chicks to hatch at Birdland.

People can become a perch for a parrot and get up close to some of the Birdland residents. The petting area of the Close Encounters zone means that adults and children can meet tortoises and cuddle the bunnies.

The new Jurassic Journey will prove to be a fascinating voyage of adventure as the interactive trail takes visitors back to the time that dinosaurs roamed the Cotswolds.

Explorers will be armed with special dinosaur tracker kits, and will venture in to a Jurassic-themed landscape which is home to more than 30 different dinosaurs.

These life-sized replicas include a Brachiosaurus, Spinosaurus, Postosuchus, Velociraptor and a group of Dilophosaurus alongside a skeletal Sabre Tooth tiger. There is also the spectacular flying Pteranodon, Velociraptors, Allosaurus and the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex.

• Birdland, which was established in 1957, offers visitors a chance to discover exotic and rare birds as they explore the park and gardens. Flamingos, pelicans, cranes, storks, cassowary and waterfowl live in the riverside habitat with parrots, owls, pheasants, hornbills, touracos and many more inhabiting over 50 aviaries. Temperate and Desert Houses are home to birds which enjoy hotter and drier conditions.

• It is set in nine acres of gardens and woodland, creating a picturesque canopy for the winding River Windrush.