Cage & Aviary Birds

Cage & Aviary Birds is written by bird experts for bird fanciers and is packed with club, show and bird related news, advice, birds for sale and comment. Established in 1902, Cage & Aviary Birds provides a wealth of practical advice and tips from the top names in the bird world, plus opinion, controversy, species and hobbyist profiles and nostalgia.

‘Lucky’ 001 greenfinch up for grabs in the 2025 Avian Draw

Parliament will debate ban on driven grouse shooting

QuOTE of the WEEK

Also in the news…

Harriers have evolved ‘owl-like’ hunting skills

Report highlights the impact of bird flu on the UK's waterbirds

Major overhaul for bird and animal welfare in UK zoos

PARROTS & PEOPLE

More light on early hawfinch breeding

Editor's Letter

Cage & Aviary Birds

The curious charm in a name • Six thousand bird names, all in Latin? An official request drew GRAHAM WELLSTEAD into the funny old game called ‘nomenclature’. And unexpectedly he developed a taste for it

Raise them, then watch them soar • One of the most inspiring British reintro schemes is the white stork project based at Knepp Estate in Sussex. But before the storks soar away, they must be bred and reared – and that's where RICHARD WARDLE at Cotswold Wildlife Park comes in. SUSIE KEARLEY met him

Triumphs and disasters • With show budgies, SAM WILDES has had to combat and prevent the health issues that come with the territory. Then there's always the unexpected, as he explains

Humidity and breeding health • This month, Andy's attention has been specially focused on the water content of the air in his birdroom, and he shares his thinking about the steps he's taken to address it

Learning to turn things round • Most fanciers have had a star bird keel over for no obvious reason. DAVE BROWN has – yet there are also times when he's traced health issues to their source and tackled them successfully

The gyroscope of health • Wellbeing in birds? It's a balancing act. As background to the question ‘what makes a healthy bird?’, PAUL DONOVAN considers the amazing neural systems that allow birds to blend information from all of their senses, so that they can fly, forage, migrate and much more

Q&A: new acquisitions • Responding to a reader request, CHRIS GREEN explains how to give ourselves the best chance of bringing in new stock that's in good shape and will live up to our expectations

Plan for wellbeing at every stage • The world's most exquisite birds are often physically delicate too. GARY BRALSFORD advises on how to stock up on the right skills as well as medical products, and emphasises the core husbandry that underpins the good or ill health of most softbills in aviculture

What price our history? • Ever the man for a project, JAY BUNKER has rationalised his own bookshelves. But that doesn't solve the question: should we allow our hobby's legacy to end its days as landfill?

Birds of the Southern Cone: Argentina • South America is deservedly known as ‘The Bird Continent’, and yet only the least fraction of its avian wealth has found its way into our aviculture. And what we do not know, we can't possibly appreciate. In fact, especially in the continent's temperate lower quarter – the so-called Southern Cone – there are countless species that would captivate birdkeepers, and many that would make wonderful aviary subjects. Some are representatives of familiar bird families; others we know through the marvellous recent TV documentaries on the wildlife of Patagonia; and many are simply off the radar. From a fortnight's visit to Argentina in late 2023, ROB INNES singles out 10 species that encapsulate the richness of the region's birdlife.

Club News • Welcome to the club and show pages – the bit that's all about...