news

New bird room, new birds for sale!

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:54:42 +0100

We finally got the new bird room finished this summer! We enclosed our 21' long x 10' wide x 9' tall carport for this purpose, and added 4 windows, 2 doors with large windows, and 2 skylights to the room. Now we have 2 new aviaries- each 8' L x 9' H x 4' D- one for the finches and one for the grass keets, and a 5' L x 9' H x 4' D anteroom between them where we keep the breeding cabinets.

We also brought the parrotlet cage and the former grass keet HQ double flight to the new bird room, and put them along the opposite wall from the aviaries. The double flight is now home to our kakarikis, who currently include Giggles, a cinnamon red-fronted hen, Chuck(les), a normal green pied red-fronted male, and Archie, a normal green yellow-fronted male. We are waiting on an unrelated yellow-fronted clutch from our breeders so we can get Archie a much-wanted girlfriend!

The bird room is an excellent new place for the birds. The ceramic tile floor has a heating system underneath so we can keep it warmer from the floor up in winter, and the high ceilings allow the heat in summer to settle at a level above our heads. While there is no vent for AC or heat in the bird room, there is a door that leads from our kitchen that we can open to let in some of the temperature-controlled air, and while we may need to bring a radiator out in winter, the birds didn't seem to mind one bit when the temps in the bird room reached the upper 80s this summer.

We have places now to use all 6 of our breeding cages, so of course we have 6 pairs set! 5 pairs have eggs or are looking promising, whereas one young, unproven pair doesn't seem to like being out of the aviary. They'll probably go back and we'll try them again once they're a little older and mellowed out.

Finally, we have 4 birds (all clutch mates) for sale from an excellent pairing from the spring breeding season. We decided to keep both of the birds from the first clutch, so we have all four birds from the second clutch available for sale! They are close to 6 months old now but were fully colored up around 4 months of age.

New web address!

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:32:33 +0100

Today I went ahead and purchased the domain www.aerieaviary.com so as to prevent further confusion with people trying to access the site. Don't worry, though- the old link will just redirect to the new one. Also, check out www.artistaraquel.com for my new knitting, jewelry, and other artsy stuff site!

New aviary and lots of babies coloring up!

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:51:26 +0100

Lots has been going on at Aerie Aviary since our last post. We decided to enclose our carport and turn it into the new bird room, complete with a 24' long, 10' tall, 5' wide flight to be divided in half between the Australian grass parakeets and the finches. Until construction on the flight panels is complete, the grass keets and parrotlets are hanging out in their current cages in the new room. We're very excited to give our birds more room to stretch their wings, and to keep the mess contained to only one room! We will post pictures as they are available.

In addition, I spent some time this weekend figuring out who is what in terms of color and gender, and who we will keep or sell, for the juveniles in the aviary. Looks like we're going to hang onto Mondrian and Sprite's lovely red head, white breast, yellow back male and his red head, purple breast, dilute brother, and sell the babies from the second clutch from this pairing, to include 2 more dilutes and another yellow male, as well as what looks to be a black headed, purple breast hen. We also plan to keep a black head, white breast, blue back male and probably sell his black head, purple breast, blue back brother and green back sister. We also have several other greens (with a large possibility for split to blue, with yellow tipped beaks and split to white breast on some of them) that will be available, and another red head dilute from a different pairing. Check the available birds page for detailed listing on the ones who will be available for sale in the coming weeks and months!

All of our birds are out of breeding for the time being, but we plan to set lots of pairs coming up in early August. Also hoping to have some to bring to the show in Maryland in October!

More babies!

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:47:30 +0100

Mondrian and Sprite's 4 eggs hatched, and all the babies are wiggly and well-fed. Now we're up to 15 babies! Dandy and Zelda, the pair laying eggs in the coconut in the aviary, is up to 8 eggs. We'll see if anything comes of it!

Babies!

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:01:15 +0100

As of this weekend, we jumped from 3 babies to 11!

Constantin x Danube - 3 babies who we thought were all blue, but now one seems to be changing to something else. We'll see!
Orange Guy x Silvie - 3 babies. All look like greens.
Peep x Marie - 5 babies! Looks like 2 yellows and 3 greens.
Mondrian x Sprite - 4 very fertile eggs...
Brahma x Judith - scared off the nest during some work that was being done on the house, but look to be going back to nest...
Dandy (OH PB Dilute with possible /BB) x Zelda (RH/OH WB GB) - started laying eggs and sitting on them in the swinging coconut in the aviary! Just going to leave them and see if anything happens... otherwise we'll put them in a proper breeding cage if the eggs fall out or don't hatch.

Spring is definitely here at Aerie Aviary!

Update again!

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:32:41 +0100

Today in cleaning out the aviary, I took out the old bamboo which scared all of the breeding pairs out of their nest boxes. I took the opportunity to do a 5-nests-in-30-seconds egg candling, and here's the update:

Mondrian x Sprite - all 4 eggs fertile
Constantin x Danube - all 3 blue babies who hatched yesterday are looking good
Orange Guy x Silvie - 4 out of 5 eggs fertile
Peep x Marie - all 5 eggs fertile
Brahma x Judith - very early, but looks like all 5 might be fertile

Not to count our finches before they hatch, but this breeding season looks promising!

Update on breeding pairs

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:21:32 +0100

Just a quick update on the 5 pairs we have set for breeding:

Mondrian x Sprite - 4 eggs, possibly starting to sit.
Constantin x Danube - 5 eggs, 3 fertile. Due to hatch within the next few days.
Orange Guy x Silvie - 5 eggs, 3 fertile. Due to hatch in the second week of March sometime.
Peep x Marie - same as Orange Guy and Silvie. With both pairs we somehow missed when they started sitting.
Brahma x Judith - 3 eggs! Didn't even know she was laying till today.

Our new OH PB YB hen, Pixie (who is Sprite's sister) is going to take the place of the next pair to leave the breeding cabinet. Mikey keeps singing to his mother, but fortunately Zelda's not showing any interest.

So far 2 of the 3 fledglings in the aviary are boys. We plan on selling at least one of them - the orange head green back boy who looks like he's got a white breast coming in! That would be a surprise in terms of his known genetic background.

Pair updates

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:58:27 +0100

In the past couple of weeks, we have ended up setting a total of 5 pairs in breeding (a new Aerie Aviary record!). They include:

Mondrian x Sprite: they have 2 fledglings, and look to want to start another clutch, but the babies keep going back in the nest box (even though it was closed off for a week!). May have to wait till the babies are weaned before their parents lay another clutch. These are our yellow and dilute-producing parents.
Constantin x Danube: 3 out of 5 eggs looking fertile... babies will include blues and greens split to blue, with red and black (split to orange) heads and purple breasts.
Orange Guy x Silvie: still early on but it looks like some of the eggs are showing signs of fertility. We *think* he's split to blue and know she is, so hopefully blues and split to blues in this clutch too...
Peep x Marie: more early stage eggs that are starting to look fertile. Another probable split to blue boy (waiting on records from breeder) and she might be... so yet another chance for blues!
Brahma x Judith: no eggs yet but only set in the last few days. Very interested in one another! Both might be split to blue... purple and white breasts should be in this clutch, but all black heads.

We ended up taking Link and Bella out of the breeding cabinet as they did nothing but flutter nervously in their cage.

New Birdie Babies Pictures Database!

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:24:09 +0100

I have compiled the best photos I've taken of babies in the nest box, fledging, and coloring up into a database for those interested in seeing what baby Goulds look like before they obtain their adult plumage, and as an aid in determining coloration of hatchlings. There are also photos of a clutch showing their progress from 10 days old through fledging- and one of them is our first yellow baby! Click the Birdie Babies link to see more.

Welcome to our News Blog!

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:30:40 +0100

Aerie Aviary now has a News Blog to let you know of what is going on in the aviary.

This weekend we put 2 pairs and their weaned babies back in the aviary, and switched them out for 2 new pairs in the breeding cabinet. Right now, the breeding cabinet contains:

Mondrian (RH PB / WB or LB GB / BB male) x Sprite (RH WB YB hen) + yellow and dilute fledglings
Constantin (RH PB GB / BB male) x Danube (BH ytb WB BB hen) + 1 egg in nest box
Orange Guy (OH PB / WB GB / BB male) x Silvie (BH PB GB / BB hen)
Link (RH PB BB male) x Bella (BH WB GB / BB hen)

We are considering setting a fifth pair today. Of the four pairings currently in the breeding cabinet, we should end up with lots of greens split to blue, blues, and some more yellows and dilutes. Keep an eye on our available birds page in the coming months!