Bird Aviaries, Outdoor and Indoor

I promised a regular reader that I'd include photos of aviaries by this weekend, so I'd better get to it.

 

Many cages and flights are housed in this building.
It may appear open, but the "window" area has a clear cover.
This yard building has heat for sheltering and/or wintering birds.

This is a side view of the same building.
Entrance at left. It's winter, so leaves on the ground and
trees are bare. Spring will make everything pretty.

Our trip to Eugene and Salem gave us a chance to visit Jeannie Anderson's fascinating place. She raises many varieties of small exotic birds. Many of her birds have been allowed to acclimatize and slowly adapt to cooler weather. They are in outdoor aviaries year round. Others are housed in indoor facilities that are heated in the winter. Many go into outdoor aviaries in the spring and summer, but return to their heated homes when it turns cold. 

Inside the same building. Left side of one of several areas.
There is a large flight at the end of the hallway. Half doors allow safe entry.
Birds generally stay up high, so by bending over to enter, birds remain safe.

Right side of the same hallway. Flight at the end.

A close up of the aviary at the end of the hallway.
There is an even larger one at the other end.

Another section of the same building. Notice the variation of small flights.
This one houses diamond doves and now a pair of Bourkes (formerly mine).

This building is a busy place with many varieties of birds.
A push cart helps distribute seed to each cage or aviary,
and helps deliver fresh water to all the birds daily.

A self-built, functional building that many of us could copy.

Most of the building has cement floors. This addition has a cement block floor.
Skylight above allows light in, yet keeps cold drafts out.
Button quail on aviary floors help control bugs.

Goodbye Clyde. I'm sure you and Bonnie
will enjoy your new, bigger space.

Notice the half door entry into this flight. A variety of nest box choices
for a variety of birds. It's always wise to have more nesting locations
than there are birds in an aviary. You don't want them to squabble.

An outdoor aviary. The bird in upper left is a Rosela parakeet.
As you probably know, they are larger than Bourkes, Budgies, Turks or Splendids.

An outside aviary near the house didn't allow for a view from farther away.

A different outside aviary, less fancy, but functional.
The far right houses white homing pigeons who are currently out flying.
Notice both provide shelter for the birds.
All aviaries have roofs ... Oregon gets a lot of rain.

A final note. You can build aviaries with flights that have wire tops on a portion of them, with enclosed buildings they can fly into. The only problem is that a neighbor's cat may decide to sit on the wire and torment your birds. Or, hawks may fly at them. Although both predators may still be a challenge, a roof is better protection than just wire.

The best protection, of course, is a full indoor enclosure. Then all you'll have to deal with is setting traps for rodents. It's very difficult to build something so tight as to keep them out, but not impossible.

Hope this was helpful, or at least interesting.

If you are in the Eugene, Oregon area and interested in acquiring almost any variety of small exotic bird, Anderson's Aviaries is fun to visit. You can contact them by phone at: 541-729-2740.

Peace & Blessings.