Fantasy Aviary

[casehulsebosch]

Australia's outback is one BIG aviary. That's why i go birding in the outback for 6 months every year.

No wire to obstruct my view, natural habitat, and best of all no people!

cheers, Case, Tauranga, New Zealand.

[Stu]

I'm sub 50 and I've got a fantasy.
I like Budgie Smugglers idea but to cure the monotony,
A collection of all the Australian native finches and there sub species, no mutations.
I would need at least 6 aviaries, maybe 8, to keep the genus and sub species separate.
Each a walk through design not unlike the aviary at Toronga Western Plains housing 5 or so finch species and quail/button quail.
A curved roofed, greenhouse style, open structure 5 or so meters high, maybe 12 meters wide, and say 40 to 50 meters long.
Planted out obviously with each having a variation of plant species attempting to match the birds wild habitat.
A meandering walkway the length of each aviary.
No man made nesting receptacles other than modified log hollows.
Feed stations to be covered. End wall to offer wind/weather protection with a small section of roofing for perching area only.

[willy]

I am an immature 40 year old. My build that i am in the process of is my fantasy. Even if I won powerball this Thursday, which I probably will because I have bought a ticket along with two thirds of Australia. I wouldn't have it any bigger than this. Too hard to manage. Now species being held is a completely different story. Years ago I saw Violet Eared Waxbills at a fellas place in Gunnedah, they are high on my list, as are black capped waxbills. I have seen some pretty amazing Tanagers in Belize that would do nicely as well, and while we are dreaming maybe a massive aviary with a colony of Montezuma's Oropendolas.

[Tiaris]

My powerball plan has always been to have a conservatorium-style chill out room on my dream home with large one-way glass windows on 3 sides each with different "habitat" aviaries. One rainforest, one desert, and one grassland aviary each with a group of species from those habitats. Species such as fruit pigeons, scrub wrens, yellow robins & parrotfinches in the rainforest one. Painteds, Turquoise wrens & Scarlet-chested Parrots in the desert one. A mix of waxbills & grass finches in the grassland one.

[TomDeGraaff]

When you say "aviary", I am taking that to mean an establishment that houses birds, NOT an individual building!!

Attached to house, glass inspection windows, external servicing structures.

Birds: toucans, turacos, hornbills, waxbills (all Uraeginthus species, black-capped, Dufresne's, fawn-breasted, lavender and black-cheeked waxbills, fires, bamboo parrotfinches), all Aussie finches especially crimsons (white-bellied and nominate) maskeds (both) plumheads and red-eared firetails

plus parrots, pheasants, doves, softbills...... I can't stop........

[finchbreeder]

Well if we are going beyond the avairy, and into a complex for birds. Add a nice even dozen aviarys about 3mtrs square to my previous comments. And these I will use to breed colonys of the poor neglected monochromatic birds like Lonchura species, for which I have always had a soft spot.
LML

[Denozo]

I am 25 and my ideal complex would be rows of large 5x5 aviaries each housing a single species of the colony breeding mannikins and munias and then smaller 3x3 housing the more aggressive species. I would love to have some great-billed mannikins, magpie mannikins and moluccan mannikins.

[Shane Gowland]

I put some serious effort into this while waiting for the Powerball numbers to be drawn.

dream.png

Related: Powerball sucks.

[E Orix]

To make me happier I would just add another 900mm of height to my existing aviary.
As for stocking, there are so many great species out there which we can't access which is a shame
BUT
I would not like to see open importations, it would cause the same problem as overseas. People become keepers not breeders of birds.
Limited importations yes. Each person having access to a couple of species each couple of years.
Having just returned from Sth Africa it was interesting to see some of the finch prices. Their retail cost was generally under $20 ea including
Lavenders,Violet Ears etc. and little respect was shown to them. Even cheaper from the backyard sales.

[finchbreeder]

Their retail cost was generally under $20 ea including Lavenders,Violet Ears etc. and little respect was shown to them. Even cheaper from the backyard sales.
Makes you want to cry when we cant get them. But the point, would we treat them right if we could at that price? I have been keeping and breeding birds for 30 odd years and there are
birds I will not buy because I do not feel I would do justice too. It's a lazy persons honest attitude. Regretfully not everyone feels the same. Many on here are not like me and will do the hard yards for these birds and I admire you one and all for that. Equally many arround the country will just buy anything they like the look of and the birds suffer for it. Sometimes the early collectors do become the later successfull breeders though. So we need to be careful not to judge to harshly too quickly.
LML