This is a nostalgic page showing how I kept my birds in the early 1990’s. My aviaries were placed in my parents’ back yard. The rest of this page appears as it did when I first started this page in 1995.
Aviaries
My aviaries are placed in my parents’ back yard. There are a total of four aviaries side by side. Currently the aviary is home to a bunch of zebra finches, two masked finches and two star finches. Later this year the breeding stock and their offspring will move in here for the summer.
Doors
Notice that the doors are only half as tall as the aviaries. This way, the chance of the birds flying out when I open a door is minimized, as the birds fly above the door. Each door has a smaller door at the bottom which was originally intended for feeding without opening the larger door, but I haven’t used them for a couple of years.
Water dish
Zebra finches like to bathe, so a large dish with water has been provided in each aviary. The dishes must be cleaned often – especially during summer – to keep them free from algae.
Feeder
This is actually a sodabottle feeder as used for wild birds. Using this feeder saves seed, as the zebra finches actually eat a greater percentage of the seed. In the other aviaries, normal pots have been provided with seed.
Nestbox
Nestboxes (12 x 12 x 12 cm) have been provided for the masked finches. Currently, there is one egg in the nestbox that is visible on the picture.
The zebra finches are not allowed to breed in the aviaries. This is avoided by not giving them an opportunity to build nests. I used to keep males and females in separate aviaries, which is also an effective method, but I have decided to go with the other method for various reasons.
Locks
One problem with outdoor aviaries is that if someone wants to steal your birds, then it is very easy. These locks does very little to fix this problem. In stead, they are used in order to keep children from opening the doors and accidentally letting the birds out.
Plants
Plants have been put in all aviaries, but the zebra finches are a bit rough on them, so aviaries 2 and 3 are virtually without live plants. In stead a lot of plants have been put around the aviaries.
Greenhouse
No, I don’t use the greenhouse for anything relating to the birds.