Outdoor Parakeet Aviary

[Destiny]

Just got a delivery of beautiful toys from Seriously Nuts. I hope the budgies like them as much as I do!

Look at these pretty things. I love the blue dye. So nice! Even the dogs were impressed.



Hey! Those are not dog toys! Drop it.



Now to get these into the aviary before the dogs destroy them ...



I've also added some new hanging feeders and a few other toys to the aviary. Out with the old, in with the new.




I can't wait for spring. I am looking forward to picking out new plants. The aviary is looking a bit bare at the moment. The new toys add a lovely brightness.



I've also made up a new foraging tray. It is much bigger than my usual trays.

A normal foraging tray:


The mega foraging tray:

(Button quail provided for scale.)

It is quite huge and I love it. The birds seem to like it too. Let the hunt begin!

 

[Destiny]

Regarding the button quail, I should update you all regarding their names. The babies are settling in nicely and it looks like they will be staying. I'm keepin an eye on the males in case there is any fighting, but so far everyone is getting along quite well. They sleep together, take dust baths together, and eat together. It is super cute.

Five quails and a finch




Why bathe separately when you can just pile on top of each other? Plenty of room for everyone!





Anyways ... on to the names.

First, the original pair - my beige girl, Terra


And black and white boy, Geo.



Now on to the kids ... this stripey brown girl is Marble. I love her plummage. So colorful!



She is round like a marble too.



Then there are my two gray boys, Slate (named after one of my previous quail) and Granite (nick named Grant). Really hard to tell them apart. I love their cute little white bibs.





And these are my two dainty silver and white girls, Beryl and Agate. They are hard to tell apart, like their brothers.





My last boy is Clay. He looks like the girls, except that he has rust colored feathers on his rump.




And a final group photo:


Starting on the top left ... Slate, Clay, Beryl, Agate, Marble, and Granite.

Gosh, these button quail are too cute.

 

[zoo mom]

Perfect earthy names for the cuties.

They are cute as a button.

 

[Dona]

I love seeing your aviary pictures! Gorgeous flock with such an enriching environment. I especially love your new foraging tray! Wow!

 

[Sparkles99]

The button quail are way too cute! I didn't realize how small they are.

 

[Destiny]

Just one day later and we have our first toy casuality.



R.I.P. little toy. Your service was appreciated. The pile of balsa chips on the floor show you brought much joy to the aviary, even in this brief time. You will be missed.

The rest of the toys are fairing better. Only light damage so far. I've moved around the untouched ones to see if they would get more attention in a different spot.



Here's my good boy Winston, posing in front of one of the new toys while singing his little heart out.



...

And now for a short lesson on counting with budgies:


One!


Two!


Three!


Four!


Five! Five beautiful budgies. Ha ha ha!

Quite the handful, aren't they?

 

[MR. Mango]

so lovely to see everyone the aviary is doing well, I loved seeing the quails!!

 

[Momof3litt]

I love your updates! Those look like some very happy, busy birdies. That's one seriously fantastic foraging tray (and new toys)!

The quail are absolutely adorable, I appreciate that you stuck with the "earth" names.

Oh, and can't forget the adorable puppies! names?

 

[Destiny]

Oh, and can't forget the adorable puppies! names?

The little one is named Mouse. She is small but full of pep. And such a sweet heart. Look at those eyes!



The big doggo in the blurry action shot is Bear and the grey bandit stealing one of my bird toys is Luna, our silver lab.



They follow me everywhere ... except into the aviary.

 

[Sparkles99]

Never seen a silver lab - they're really pretty looking. The fur kind of shimmers.

 

[Sodapop&Co.]

Such cute dogs! My dog's bestest friend in the world is a silver Lab; he's a gorgeous, sweet and intelligent dog.

 

[Destiny]

Never seen a silver lab - they're really pretty looking. The fur kind of shimmers.

Her color varies a lot depending on lighting. It is very cool and kind of hard to capture in photos.



Random fun fact - silver labs are silver because of a dilution mutation that affects pigment distribution in their coat. If not for that gene, Luna would be a chocolate lab! You can kind of tell from the photos, she is gray/silver, but it is a brownish gray not true neutral. Almost taupe.



Black labs and yellow labs can have the same dilution gene. The effect on coat color is less pronounced, but still noticable. Dilute black labs are called "charcoal". They are a much darker gray with a silver cast. The color reminds me of graphite. Dilute yellow labs are a lighter shade of yellow with some silvering, sometimes called "champagne".

I love the silver color. It is very eye catching.



Luna, exhausted after a long day of "helping" me in the garden. Such a hard worker.

 

[GreenThing]

What a wonderland!!! I would lose my job because I'd never leave!!!

Button quails are unbelievably cute little potatoes. The one looks like a penguin! And such handsome budgies!

 

[Momof3litt]

Button quails are unbelievably cute little potatoes. The one looks like a penguin! And such handsome budgies!

I didn't know I needed this in my life, but now I MUST see a whole little flock of quail named for different potato varieties!

 

[Destiny]

It has been a week now, so let's check up on those toys, shall we?

This one looks pretty good, actually. Considering its location, I expected more action.



But the rest are showing signs of flying beaver attacks.



Lots of missing balsa wood ...




And a quick look at the floor tells me where all the wood went.



Yup ... these toys were a hit!

I can tell the girls had a blast dismantling these things. I may need to invest in replacement toy parts to feed their hunger for balsa wood.

Here are some of the biggest pieces:



The rest are just colorful sawdust:



Kiwi's authentic parrot toy rating - 10 out of 10. Would destroy again.

 

[zoo mom]

Great job everyone.

 

[Sookitiel]

WOAHHHHH that is sooo cool!!!!

 

[expressmailtome]

Your aviary is an oasis for all of your birds!

 

[Destiny]

Forgot to show this toys during the previous post. The pieces of wood between the blocks are completely gone. The blocks are holding up ... for now.



I added this chew toy/perch to the aviary just the other day.



I had a feeling they would like it. And they definitely did.



I better move it off the gravel. That's going to be hard to clean up.



Just look at them looking so innocent.



You would never suspect that they are all cold-blooded toy killers.

 

[Destiny]

**Aviary Update**

I have some happy news to share. I will soon be adding three new budgies to the flock. They are currently in quarantine and have settled in nicely. Healthy, happy, and chatty. I can't wait to inroduce them to the rest of the birds when they are ready.

Please meet Oliver:


Cloudy:


And Frost:


Oliver is a little older and definitely male. Frost and Cloudy are both younger and a bit harder to sex. I think Frost is probably male and Cloudy is probably female. I was hoping for all guys to help even out the gender distribution in my flock, but two out of three isn't so bad. It still doubles my male budgie numbers.

I am currently debating how long I should wait before introducing them. I got the new budgies in mid February, so it has been long enough from a quarantine standpoint, but I think I might wait until the weather warms up a little more. I don't want them to get stressed out by cold night-time temperatures. Also, Oliver is a skilled flyer, but both of the younger budgies came to me heavily clipped. I am hoping to give them a little extra time to grow out their wings, so they will have better mobility in the aviary. But that could easily take several months and I don't think I actually want to wait that long.

I will share more pictures when release day finally comes!