Complete Psittacine by EB Cravens

Have We Built a Cage, a Flight or an Aviary?

I remember some time ago, I was involved in an online forum discussion about the appropriate size of enclosures for pet and breeder parrots. One aviculturist talked about her ‘aviaries’ where the birds were housed, but when I took a quick look at that breeding facility’s commercial web site home page, there were numerous photos of 4ft x 4ft cages in which African Grey and Amazon sized psittacines were being housed. That was a bit of a shock to me and I confronted the breeder with the consideration that such wire boxes were not adequate enough to be called ‘aviaries’.

This brings up the point: when is a cage a flight and when is a flight an aviary? Obviously the first is an enclosure of limited size and sometimes appeal, more portable and restrictive for the parrot, the second is usually a longer, thinner area offering the hookbills the pleasure of full flight, even if sometimes in a straight line back and forth, while the third is often used interchangeably with ‘flight’ but suggests an even larger space with many lifestyle enhancements designed for the gratification of the occupying birds and for pleasing the eye of the beholder.