Hi!
Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Pete, I’m in my mid 40′s and live with my family at Sutton-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, UK, although I originate from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, UK.
I have kept small pet birds for over a decade and have succesfully been able to breed a few species. I wouldn’t class myself as a bird expert however but I have acquired a lot of experience over the years; an enthusiastic hobbyist is perhaps a more apt description.
I decided a few months ago to write an ebook related to the subject of pet bird keeping and attempt to sell it through a few online resources. It basically imparts my learned knowledge about the matter onto others – mainly inexperienced - who would like to learn a little more.
This led me to write many online articles to help with my internet exposure and has ultimately led me to creating this blog. Irrelevent of whether I get a little extra income from this or not I am thoroughly enjoying it, it is also teaching me a lot about the internet that I was unaware of as well as helping to improve my typing skills.
Back to the right subject matter; I have a large exposed outdoor mixed aviary that is currently home to 10 budgerigars (parakeets to our US friends), 4 zebra finches, 4 Java sparrows (Java finches), 4 Bengalese finches (society finches), 3 cockatiels, and just 1 lonely yellow turquoisine whose mate sadly died as a result of a sparrowhawk attack.
I didn’t start that way however. My first pet birds were 2 lovebirds I bought many years ago when I first began to show an interest in pet birds. I then built a small outdoor aviary near to the house in which to accommodate them. My very first aviary was just 6 feet by 4 feet and 6 feet high in which the 6ft x 2ft night shelter took up the whole of the rear.
Soon I wanted more variety of birds but learned that lovebirds rarely agree with any other type of pet bird species. I sold the lovebirds to a private keeper so as to have some variety. A little research later and my small aviary soon contained cockatiels, budgies, bourkes, and rosellas and was beginning to become too small for them all.
An old 6ft x 8ft shed and hundreds of square yards of welded mesh saw the completion of my second aviary covering a surface area of 100 square ft and a total height of 8ft, but at the bottom of the garden because I didn’t have enough available space nearer the house. Of course I introduced more birds of the type I already had (apart from more rosellas), plus two turquoisine grass parakeets and 4 kakarikis (New-Zealand parakeets).
That was still many years ago and I have continued to upgrade and expand since then. Now my aviary covers a total surface area of about 210 square feet and a total height of 8ft. Designed so that it occupies the full width of the garden and is built to go over the garden path, this forces us to pass under a part of the aviary to get to the back gate.
My zebra finches and some of my budgerigars successfully reared a few clutches last year and I’m optimistic they will do so again this year. One of my cockatiels has also been leaving eggs about in the aviary, I have now provided her with a suitable nest box but so far she and her mate have shown little interest in it, but I live in hope. Finally my Java sparrows, who were perhaps too young last year, are now showing signs of pairing ready to mate so I’m hoping that some baby Java sparrows will be on their way soon.
You can also follow me on Facebook; search for Stanton Birdman while on Facebook.
Thankyou for showing an interest in this blog! I will try and add new content whenever I can.
