Cage & Aviary Birds

AN OWL THAT fell down a chimney had a lucky escape after he chose one that had been freshly swept. The homeowners called Suffolk Owl Sanctuary (SOS) after they discovered the disorientated tawny owl inside their log-burning stove. The bird was brough

LITTLE IS KNOWN about how birds and other flying creatures deal with atmospheric pressure, so researchers decided to find out, with the help of homing pigeons and an ultralight aircraft. Both were equipped with high-frequency data loggers recording a

PROTECTED BIRDS OF prey are being illegally killed reveals the latest Birdcrime report by the RSPB, with the majority of the deaths connected to land managed for gamebird shooting. Eighty of the 108 UK incidents were in England, the second-highest fi

SO, YOU have hardly bred anything. Step back and don't panic. Try to examine what's exactly gone wrong. If you are new to the hobby, consider asking a seasoned fancier to look at your results and make some suggestions. My experience tells me that a d

READING Cage & Aviary Birds has been a regular feature in my life for 55 years. The world we live in has changed enormously during that time, so it's no surprise that birdkeeping has also seen some radical changes. Cage & Aviary Birds lives on becaus

AS A teenager, I kept and bred budgerigars on a colony system. My favourite colours were skyblues, lutinos and cinnamon olive greens. A cinnamon skyblue still holds a special place in my mind. What I loved most was that, as a colony, they chose their

IN MY previous article about the London fancy canary (see Cage & Aviary Birds, June 22), I examined the features of the bird. In this article I will use a series of photos to show the change from dark to light as each bird ages. There is a misconcept

WHO has heard of the reed warbler? This little bird is probably quite familiar by name to the general public, yet far fewer people will be able to say that they have heard one and still fewer have actually seen one. Its “fame in name” is probably dow

OVER many years, I have flown at least one example of every species that is flown as a falconry bird in the UK. The number has been governed by availability and cost. Some are terrifyingly expensive; others simply expensive; and just a few are afford

THE waxwings acquired their generic name Bombycill from bombyx, the Greek name for silk and are related to the silky flycatchers (Ptiliogonatidae) of the New World. “Silk tail” has been an alternative name to the more common “waxwing”, a term which d

IT WAS during the 1960s that the black-faced zebra finch was first seen in the aviaries of Australian breeders before, about a decade later, it became established in Europe. This mutation is relatively subtle in appearance: in fact, black-faced birds

SEND us your birdkeeping pictures and we'll publish them on this page. Each month the C&AB team will pick their favourite picture(s)! Simply email your picture to: birds. general@kelsey.co.uk with “Readers’ Gallery” in the subject line or put them on

Welcome to the club and show pages – the bit that's all about you ON OCTOBER 29, officials met at the garage in Portknockie to take the staging the mere 100 yards to the McBoyle Hall. The staging was revamped in 2018, so it took less than 30 minutes

BELOW are the Fife fancy canary and lovebird section reports from the 2022 National Exhibition held at Stafford County Showground. (For more National reports, see News, C&AB October 19 and Club News, November 16, 23 & 30.) ■ Fife fancy canaries, Nort