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.

Breeding breakthrough at Chester Zoo revealed

London Zoo names penguin chick after children's ward

QUOTE of the WEEK

Also in the news…

Eight sounds form the building blocks of bird song

Eagle parents put in extra miles after chicks fledge

Colourful birds ‘are more likely to go extinct’

COLOUR BUDGERIGARS

NCA advice for the new show season • Much has been written this year about DEFRA's new regulations for bird shows and sales, but what are the key points that every fancier needs to know? The NCA's ROBB BROWN provides a summary

Editor's Letter

Cage & Aviary Birds

Lighting tweaks for my top two tiers • Why were only the canaries in JAY BUNKER's two bottom rows of cages settling down to breed? Answer: his new birdroom lights were a bit too fierce – but he found a solution

August: when the bolster bursts • Late summer, and the story in your shed can seem like ‘feathers, feathers and more feathers’. You clean them up, obviously – but, says STUART MASON, you must rigorously attend to other aspects of hygiene, as well as thinking ahead about showing and pairings

Five decades with budgerigars: Part 2 • Here is the second part of our conversation with ALAN FRETTEN on his 50 years’ experience of breeding and winning with exhibition budgerigars. Alan's theme in this article is ‘how things have changed – and what still matters’. Interview by Alan's fellow Bristol BS member TONY KENNESON-ADAMS. For the first episode, see Cage & Aviary Birds July 29

Arctic finches that did well in the heat • Amid the trials of this year's multiple heatwaves, who'd have guessed that a hen bramblefinch would be the adaptability star in MARK JONES's mixed collection?

‘Our treasurer's been sunk’ • WWII issues of the Foreign Bird League magazine remind DAVE BROWN of the drama as well as the deprivation that birdkeeping's exotic wing experienced during the conflict

Canaries Month by Month: • From tiling to tailing, from making up batches of softfood to managing the administration of colour food – August brings Brian plenty of birdroom activity – and then he'll be off on holiday! So time spent in preparation is definitely not time wasted

Q&A: Luke Martin • More than a decade ago, I first met LUKE MARTIN, a keen junior Gloster fancier whose knowledge and enthusiasm for the breed seemed far beyond his years, writes DAVE BROWN. Like many young birdkeepers, life eventually took him in a different direction, and the birds had to take a back seat. Today, however, Luke is back with the Glosters and is once again building a stud based on the bloodlines and principles of his late mentor, Mick Rose. Mick was widely respected as a breeder, exhibitor and contributor to Cage & Aviary Birds, and Luke's return ensures that this valuable line continues in capable hands

Why do budgies eat dead budgies? • ‘Cannibalism’ is well known in exhibition budgies – but is it actually ‘abnormal’? And why does it occur? Dutch budgerigar authority PETER VAN AMELSVOORT considers a behaviour that's often kept unreported

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

International councillors to gather next month in Peterborough for AGM

What's on

Club roundup • Show reports, dates, club notices