How to Build Everything You Need for Your Birds, from Aviaries...to Nestboxes [Anglais] [Broché]

Every plan and construction detail is compiled from years of hands on experience by the author in the raising and breeding of birds ranging from finches, canaries and larger softbills to most of the hardbills including (but not limited to) parakeets, budgies, and cockatiels, on up to amazons, cockatoos, macaws, and so on. There are projects ranging from simple houses, cages, breeding and nesting quarters to small, medium, large and grand scale aviaries, all designed and detailed with both the beginning hobbyist and serious fancier, alike, in mind.

Because many of the aviary designs are based on modular construction, they contain the flexibility to start small and expand or start big and go even bigger. The material & costs have been considered carefully, and the information contained in the book will allow anyone to calculate exactly what is needed before starting actual construction. This makes it possible for the builder to contact material suppliers in his/her local area, obtain prices, and, if necessary, scale back the design to meet the current budget (and make plans to expand in the future). The designs require inexpensive, non-specialized, easy to obtain materials assembled in a straight-forward manner with the minimum tools, and give you strong, durable housing that you can be tailor-made for a specific breed of bird or modified as needed. Included also are construction plans for feeders, waterers, nesting humidifiers, hospital quarters, shipping and carrying cages, electrical wiring, plumbing and ventilation plans for the aviary, plus a host of other ideas, construction tips and general information seldom found in other bird publications.

Copyrighted and published by the author in 1973, the book has sold over 20,000 copies worldwide through the years. Although the materials were reviewed and updated in 1996 to ensure up-to-date information, the content has remained the same. While the book was written for aviculturists, permission was granted in 1990 to an instructor at University of California Berkeley to use excerpts from the book in a class on general construction.

As a breeder and owner of many types of exotic birds for years he designed and built his own aviary after failing to find any information available. After being deluged with requests from other aviculturists, and encouraged by other breeders, he wrote the book to fulfill a need for information on how to construct housing for exotic birds. Since he was working as a freelance technical illustrator at the time, he had the equipment needed to draft all the illustrations and composed and wrote the accompanying information. Discouraged by the beaurocracy of the publishing world, he applied for a copyright in 1973 and began self-publishing. The sales of the book were turned over to his mother who sold the book to wholesalers until 1996 when she suffered a stroke at the age of 91. Although she still loves to discuss her sales and customers she has permanently retired from publishing. When Don retired from engineering in 1991 he bought a 500 acre ranch in Southern Oregon, maintaining and irrigating pasture that was leased for 200+ cattle until ranch injuries (an occupational hazard) forced the sale of the ranch in 1996. Unable to completely retire from working, Don is landscaping the three acres of rural Grants Pass hillside that surround his home, restoring a 1952 International Fire Truck in his machine shop, and has a part-time antique business.