Aviary

Visitors flock to view the gorgeous colours and fascinating habits of our aviary birds. This is a walk-in experience so you can get close to the birds. Parakeets and budgerigars perch on the branches of trees side by side with other vibrant birds including finches, doves and canaries as they fly.

Canary

The canary is a domesticated form of wild canary. It is a songbird related to the Finch family of bird. Canaries were bred in captivity in the 17th century. It is believed they were brought to Europe from the Macaronesian Islands by Spanish sailors. They are named after the Canary Islands in Spain but this is a misnomer. The word 'Canaries' means Isle of dogs and is taken from the Latin word for dog: Canis.

Wild canaries tend to be a greenish colour while domestic canaries have been bred for a variety of colours including yellow, orange, brown black red and white.

Until 1986, canaries were used regularly in coal mining as an early warning system against toxic gases such as carbon monoxide, methane or carbon dioxide in the mine to which they were highly susceptible.

Budgerigar

Budgie is the nickname given to this popular bird, also known as parakeet or shell parakeet. Budgerigars derive from the Australia genus called Melopsittacus and wild budgerigars are found in dry areas of Australia. The nickname may have derived from an Australian slang term 'budgery' meaning 'good'.

Budgerigars are able to mimic human speech and they are playful. They have also been called a 'lovebird' because they enjoy preening their feathers together with another budgie.

Finch

A seed-eating songbird. There are many different finches. Most are native to the northern hemisphere. Typically, they are inhabitants of well-wooded areas but some can be found on mountains and even in desert terrain. Among the different types are: Hawaiian honeycreepers, Bullfinches, Hawfinches, Rosefinches and Chaffinches.

Photos by Greg Allen (c)