Your Dream Aviary!!

[mondo]

Hey all, I thought this'll be a nice subject to discuss together!
What is your dream aviary - the perfect enclosure to house your birds?
What shape? What location?
How do you design it so that cleaning and maintenance would be a snap?
How do you design it so the birds are comfortable?
What kind of decorations available?
And many many more things

I'll start here ok!
Since I live in the tropics, the seasons here are summer and monsoon,
so I can have an outdoor aviary, not too big, but me and my family can enter.
I will house canaries; java finch; gouldian finch; and a pair of dwarf rabbits!

roughly something like this

there should be open grassy area, sparsely planted with shrubs and small tree -most likely bouganvilles, bamboos, and bottle brush tree- on the sides and background so birds can take cover and perch, and bunnies may shelter on the bottom. Then there's a floored area to place a table and some chairs.
I'd be able to spend my sunday sitting there, cutting some fruits to share with the animals, and read a book

imagine that, but there's wire roof and some sides are also wired


There should also be a small shallow stream with waterfall, and excellent filtration: especially UV sterilizer, so the water is acceptable for drinking and bathing... if that's taking too much space I'll only put a fountain.

But I'll still have some water bottles filled with human drinking water to offer honey or juice.

I'd love it even more if I have it built right outside my livingroom, and I can observe them through my window (but the glass is dark on the outer side so birds don't fly onto it)


To protect the inhabitants from the elements, a part of the roof have climbing plant over it (bouganville, piper, or passiflora), I'm not sure if I should have an indoor extension... maybe if there's enough space.
Come night time, I'll have dim lights on (yellow lightbulb)
Something else important: I'd have a sink nearby for cleaning up their dish or preparing vinegar based disinfectant...

Here's some flaws though: I'm not sure I can clean the planted area, should it be cleaned? any dirt should decompose right? what are your thoughts?

Now how about yours? What's your dream aviary?

[mondo]

Come to think about it, when its summer here its VERY hot.
So what if the whole aviary is "green-roofed" with climbing plants?



The bottom part would be all or almost all concrete to make cleaning easy. Trees and shrubs will be potted...

I'll have to trim the climber occasionally so the aviary is not too dark, morning sunlight is very important after all.

[thegatorgal]

Beautiful ideas! Your dream aviary sounds lovely

Ever since I was very young I tried to convince my mom to turn our screened in swimming pool enclosure into an aviary. I wanted trees planted in the corners and pheasants and other ground dwelling birds to free range along the floor.

As an adult I see the impracticality of having a swimming pool added to the mix.... but I would still love a planted aviary big enough to have a sitting area for me to sit inside and enjoy the birds without looking through a screen or wire. And I still want the pheasants and quail on the ground

[delray]

I actually made a thread a few months back about this topic. It's a great subject to talk about.

Your dream aviaries are very nice. http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=28977

[mondo]

Beautiful ideas! Your dream aviary sounds lovely

Ever since I was very young I tried to convince my mom to turn our screened in swimming pool enclosure into an aviary. I wanted trees planted in the corners and pheasants and other ground dwelling birds to free range along the floor.

As an adult I see the impracticality of having a swimming pool added to the mix.... but I would still love a planted aviary big enough to have a sitting area for me to sit inside and enjoy the birds without looking through a screen or wire. And I still want the pheasants and quail on the ground

a fan of ground birds are we? if they can't fly then maybe you don't need to screen the top!
have you seen the pheasantry video in youtube? I forgot whose it belongs to but if you type pheasantry you should be able to find it

[thegatorgal]

Mondo- There would be plenty of flying birds in my dream aviary too! An overhead screen/roof would definitely be needed. I just fell in love with Golden Pheasants when I was a little girl, so wanted to include them in my dream aviary

[lovezebs]

mondo
Holy Crow, that is beautiful!!! Where did the pictures come from? When you build this thing, let us know, half the Forum is moving in with you.

~Elana~

[Colt]

All your ground-dwelling birds can definitely fly. ;) So you'd want to have a roof to protect them from predators as well as escape.

Your pictures are gorgeous. In order to keep it so lush the aviary would need to be sparsely inhabited and heavily planted. Especially with canaries.

As to clean up. If the area is large enough and lightly stocked you wouldn't notice much poo build up. You'd probably rake the dirt areas if the bunnies frequent them.

The UV sterilizer on the water feature is a great idea...

[mondo]

Holy Crow, that is beautiful!!! Where did the pictures come from? When you build this thing, let us know, half the Forum is moving in with you.

pinterest
oooh then I better prepare drinks and snacks XD