Ibisring

There is a new fashion in the way birds are kept. Even in private collections you can find increasing numbers of great aviaries, even within this small world of aviculture. How to make such an aviary is another issue, and what can be kept in such, is what we are going to talk about.

Firstly, you can try to make a fantastic aviary, with different landscape designs, and then later on attempt to put birds in it. This will limit the numbers of birds you can keep to begin with, but will avoid subjecting the birds to semi-optimal conditions.

Questions to ask yourself are: What kind of pond is there? And what species will like the design? You can also select the birds first and make the aviary suited for your selection. We think this is a better approach; this way the entire aviary can be built to suit the species in question. The challenge of this choice is to finish with an attractive view of it all.

Some say it is better to keep species apart; breeding results will be better. But who is going to judge that? Let everyone decide for themselves what they would most like to have in their aviary.

The birds that we focus on, do their in a large space. Due to space restrictions and costs, many people want to keep several species in one big aviary. If your determining factor is what species can be together, that is your first mistake. It is not due to their compatibility that will make you enjoy them. So rather, as we have made for you in the accompanying chart, is more of a limit than an extension to your final selection. After making a list of what you would like, you have to eliminate those that do not belong in the same area together.

The suggestions we have made are not necessarily written in stone, but rather the observations of experienced aviculturists. We may say that some species may never hybridize and can be kept together, but there are exceptions to every rule, hence there is always the chance of encountering individual avian oddities.

There are countless problems that may arise and prevent social acceptance and group compatibility. As examples, if you bring a new pair in during breeding season, it is most likely that the existing group will defend their territory. If you do the same after the breeding season, chances are that they will all be sharing the same tree after a few days, and find their individual territory by the next season.

This chart will no doubt aid in inter-specific group formations.

Besides each letter there is a row with species not to be put in the same aviary. This goes for each row (color), and by selecting one out of each row (color) you should be able to form a nice socially compatible group. Another option is to select some, out of the different colors, and form a group, suited for the dimensions of your aviary. This way the most obvious chances of hybridization will be avoided, and that is a goal we all share, isn't it?

Header image by Roberto Verzo