A question for parrot keepers

[CGSwans]

I've always been in love with the idea of having a very large free flight aviary with mixed parrot species. When I say 'very large' I mean something approaching the size of the Great Flight Aviary at Melbourne Zoo, which has for as long as I can remember been my favourite exhibit there. Obviously such an aviary would only be possible on a large block (and would probably need to be at least a hundred metres or so from the neighbours), and would be a bit costly to build, although not significantly more than a couple of dozen separate flights for breeding pairs.

Now, I know that many parrot species (though not all) can be aggressive at breeding time. My question, I guess, is particularly for people who have kept species like rosellas, psephotus and ringnecks. Although they would be inappropriate to keep as breeding pairs, is keeping single male birds safe from aggression? The aesthetics of keeping parrots in a large, free-flight aviary is appealing enough to me that, especially for bird that aren't extremely costly like rosellas, I would prioritise it over breeding them. Also, would it make a difference if nesting sites were available for more benign breeders like princesses and king parrots?

I'd post this on a bird forum, but there's a complete lack of decent, aviary bird forums on the internet.

 

[peterjohnson64]

One thing to remember about aviaries and building them is that most councils do actually place restrictions. I know that in our council an aviary can be built without development consent only if it complies with the following: 1. it must be less than 10 sqm. 2. It must be more than 1 metre from the boundary. 3. It must be of sound construction and 4. It can't hold poultry.

So, if you are going to build a big aviary like you speak of then you will most likely need to get council permission. If you are in a suburban area and lodge an application like that you may be quite restricted as to what you can keep in it.

And then as to being able to do it, long ago when I used to keep birds I always kept a number of species in the one aviary and they usually bred. I had things like Kings, Rosellas, Supurbs, Cockatiels and quail on the bottom. My next door neighbour also had Princess.

We did see some things as being aggressive like peach face but they would go OK with Cockatiels.

Of course, this was all in the late 70's so all has probably changed like it has with herps.

 

[kakariki]

Keep psephotus separate from other birds. They will harass & kill other birds & babies. Rosellas are the same, basically you might get away with it for a while then all of a sudden they will kill. Blue bonnets are EXTREMELY aggressive. Stick with Kings, Superbs, Princess, Bourkes, Cockatiel & other from the neophema group. I have seen Alexandrines in mixed aviaries but have not done it. Also ringnecks can be touchy, I have seen beaks torn off when mixed. What ever you decide, keep a watch on them as they can hybridise. Eg Superb seem to like Princess & Crimson wings. Offspring are sterile but you will lose your license & your birds! I agree, there are no good bird forums!!!

 

[CGSwans]

One thing to remember about aviaries and building them is that most councils do actually place restrictions. I know that in our council an aviary can be built without development consent only if it complies with the following: 1. it must be less than 10 sqm. 2. It must be more than 1 metre from the boundary. 3. It must be of sound construction and 4. It can't hold poultry.

So, if you are going to build a big aviary like you speak of then you will most likely need to get council permission. If you are in a suburban area and lodge an application like that you may be quite restricted as to what you can keep in it.

.

Yep. It's obviously not something that would be suitable for a suburban area. When I finish uni I'm 95% certain to be headed to Canberra for work, from where I will be looking for a rural block 30-60mins from the city.

In that situation, it *shouldn't* be harder to get planning approval than it would to build a large barn. Or at least, that's what I would be arguing.

 

[CGSwans]

Keep psephotus separate from other birds. They will harass & kill other birds & babies. Rosellas are the same, basically you might get away with it for a while then all of a sudden they will kill. Blue bonnets are EXTREMELY aggressive.

And none of these behaviours have any connection with breeding? That's a shame.

Stick with Kings, Superbs, Princess, Bourkes, Cockatiel & other from the neophema group. I have seen Alexandrines in mixed aviaries but have not done it. Also ringnecks can be touchy, I have seen beaks torn off when mixed. What ever you decide, keep a watch on them as they can hybridise. Eg Superb seem to like Princess & Crimson wings. Offspring are sterile but you will lose your license & your birds! I agree, there are no good bird forums!!!

I've seen it stated here many times that hybrids are illegal. Although I'm not defending the practise (I think deliberate hybridisation is completely immoral) that's very surprising to me. Can you point me in the direction of the relevant laws?

 

[peterjohnson64]

Mate the reason for it not getting approved in residential areas is noise and then smell. You might even have to get a noise report to submit with your application. Depending on the size of your rural block I don't think you would have any problems though.

 

[kakariki]

Contact Dept Environment & Heritage or Parks & wildlife. It is very definitely not allowed. I wouldn't know where to look but you could start with State legislation if you were that keen.

 

[CGSwans]

So what would you consider 'safe' species, Kakariki? Bear in mind that the aviary in my mind's eye is very large - I guess you could assume about 10msq per pair.

From other sources, I understand the following to be generally docile... Princesses, Regents, Superbs, Kings, Eclectus, Cockatiels, Plumheads and Kakarikis. What about the Australian cockatoos, crimson-wings, red-capped parrots, conures, quakers and rainbow lorikeets?

 

[kakariki]

I have mixed Kings, Superbs, Kakarikis, Cockatiel, Regents, Princess, Bourke, Turquoisine, Scarlets Crimson-wings, Budgies & Quail without any trouble except wrong pairings. If you like Rosella, get Western Rosella. They are beautiful natured birds & are excellent in mixed aviaries. I wouldn't risk the Cockatoos. I have no experience with the Asiatics except for the IRN & I wouldn't do it. Quakers might be ok but check with a breeder. I know they are colony breeders. Crimson-wing & red-caps can be a bit flighty. 1 thing about making huge aviaries. Make sure you have plenty of branches & brush to slow down their flight or you'll have a heap of dead birds with broken necks from hitting the wire at high speed!!!

 

[Frozenmouse]

parrots can be tricky to mix some peoples experiences can differ from others the reason being parrots are very intelligent and can have very different personalities within the same species so be prepared to do some evicting of idividuals from the mixed aviary. and just because one idividual is agressive does not mean you should give up on that particular species. just to add some cred to my jargon i have been involved in the breeding of eclectus, red tailed black cockatoos , northern rosellas,alexandreans, sun conures , plum heads ,slatey heads and indian ring necks for about fifteen years.

 

[kakariki]

Very true Dabool, but I was generalising. It is trial & error as to individual birds. You could answer regarding the asiatics? Can they be mixed with other birds? I particularly like sun conures & plumheads.

 

[Just_Joshin]

Sorry if this is a repeat, i've only read the first post up. Keep the Rosellas apart from the other birds. In an aviary large enough you may get away with it, if the others have sufficient room to escape. However, the Rosellas will kill other birds of similar size or smaller, then can be highly aggressive things.

 

[Frozenmouse]

Very true Dabool, but I was generalising. It is trial & error as to individual birds. You could answer regarding the asiatics? Can they be mixed with other birds? I particularly like sun conures & plumheads.

i have never tried mixing sun conures with plumheads but i did have sun conures with alexandrines and indian ringnecks one of the conures fell in love with one of the lutino ring necks it was hilarious to watch the conure follow her everywhere, it was never gona work out for him tho.
An one of my friends had a male sun conure and an male eclectus together and they were inseperable. talk about the odd couple.