Innholdsfortegnelse for December 3, 2025 i Cage & Aviary Birds

CLUBS ON NOVEMBER 9, the first North of England Combined Cage Bird Exhibition for 18 years took place with an impressive number of exhibits. The show was a combination of the North of England Gloster Club (NofEGC) and Morpeth CBS, and the Old Varieties Canary Association Patronage Event. It took place at Bomarsund Sports & Welfare Centre in Stakeford, Northumberland. This mixed variety show was put together to give exhibitors the chance to exhibit a range of birds, and for visitors to have the experience of viewing a wide variety of cage birds. Show organiser Norman Wallace said: “The show hall was bursting at the seams with 591 exhibits and fanciers. Morpeth CBS had 257 exhibits, NofEGC had 218 and the Old Varieties Canary Association had 116. “The show organisers…

WITH THE SHOW season done and most of my surplus birds out of the way, I find myself digging out the oil-filled radiators and their respective thermostats ready for the cold days. For once, I was ahead of the curve and that’s just as well as the battery in my thermostat had died and as anyone with kids know, trying to find two fully charged AA batteries in the house is a bit like looking for peacock eggs. A quick ransacking of some possibly redundant toys and I had what was needed. I assumed I had got away with my pillage, but suddenly the remote-control car was ‘in vogue’ and the look on their faces as they pondered where the batteries had gone was amusing. Of course I didn’t give…

CANARIES WHICH clubs are you involved in? Do you hold any official positions? I’m the joint show secretary at Wakefield Cage Bird Society in West Yorkshire, working alongside Alan Wilson. Can you describe your birdroom set-up? It’s very basic, to be honest. It’s just a shed without electricity. The only thing I really wanted was more natural light, so I took the roof off and replaced it with conservatory roofing panels. That lets in plenty of natural light, and it seems to work well for the birds. I use all-wire cages with external covered nest-pans. To offer some privacy to breeding pairs I use a solid sheet between each set of cages, which are stacked three high. This means that neighbouring pairs can’t see each other and distract one another…

CHRIS Smith follows the Budgerigar Club Facebook page, and we now have almost 6,000 followers since my last story and spanning over nearly three years, writes Wayne Greening. The Budgerigar Club is for all budgie keepers: as pets, indoors as a companion, in an aviary giving additional colour to a garden, and always as a conversation starter! We are a part of the Budgerigar Society and can provide a pathway to eventually joining a local club and attending shows and even showing your own birds. See: www.budgerigarclub.com I met Chris at the Specialist & Rare show held in Bugbrooke, Northampton, where he had entered a few colour budgies. He is also a member of the Budgerigar Society as well as London & Southern Counties BS. This is different to other…

SOUTH WESTERN ZFC AT THE recent combined open show for the South Western ZFC and the South Western Bengalese Club, a fast-growing foreign bird section was supported by seven exhibitors benching 29 entries between them and ably judged by Alex Norris and stewarded by Paul Ley. It was noted some six years ago by the South Western ZFC that local bird clubs had either ceased to hold shows including foreign birds or had folded, including the Exeter Budgerigar and Foreign Bird Society, Exeter CBS, Torbay Budgerigar and Foreign Bird Society and Riviera Bird Keepers. A foreign bird section was introduced as part of the combined clubs’ open show schedule and has steadily grown from ‘a few’ to the current show entry numbers. In this recent show, some members of both…

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SUPERJUDGE LAYS INTO THE GLOSTER ● Cage Birds, February 16 1929 THE “Gloster Fancy”: whether this bird can rightly lay claim to such a name I am doubtful, as such birds have been produced among German rollers as long as I can remember. There is little difference in type, colour or even the size, shape or merit of the crest. The birds I refer to had quite as good crests. “‘Sky Blue budgies were at about £125 a pair, with Cobalts round about £175!’ This class of bird can be produced by the score from a crest canary paired to a small plain-headed canary such as a roller or a Border fancy, or even a small Norwich plainhead the first time of pairing. Not difficult, is it? Had these so-called…

SPECIES PROFILE FOR most pigeons, the main food is grain and seeds. Assisted by a large gizzard equipped with grit, which they regularly ingest, they can pulverise this food in order to digest it. However, tropical pigeons in the wild have considerable access to fruits. Figs, for instance, are a favourite of many frugivores, and are produced throughout the year. The fruit pigeons known as green pigeons (Treron) are mainly arboreal and feed on both fruit seeds and plants. Occasionally they descend to the ground to feed on windfalls or fruit knocked down by hornbills or monkeys. Another group of fruit pigeons are the imperial pigeons (Ducula). Feeding mainly on berries and fruits, these species are unable to digest seed or grain since their gizzard lacks muscular walls. Instead, the…

PICTURE OF THE MONTH! C&AB TEAM PICKS THEIR FAVOURITE ENTRY EACH MONTH SEND us your birdkeeping pictures and we’ll publish them on this page. Each month the C&AB team will pick their favourite picture(s)! Simply email your picture to: birds.general@kelsey.co.uk with “Readers’ Gallery” in the subject line or put them on our Facebook or Twitter pages. Unfortunately, the Kelsey Media offices at Welbeck Way, Woodston PE2 7WH are now closed so it is not possible to receive entries sent by post. Don’t forget to include your name and address and a caption. NB: you must send only images for which you own the copyright. We cannot guarantee to print everything we receive. Readers’ Gallery will return next month. Closing date for entries: December 12, 2025.…

CLUB NEWS BEAUMARIS CBS the ‘Palace show of Wales’ is ready to welcome all on January 3 at the Beaumaris Leisure Centre on the Isle of Anglesey. Prize money has been increased to a total of £1,040. Section totals include £135 in the Irish Fancy section, £130 in the Yorkshire section, £120 in the Norwich section, £90 in the Fife section with best canary receiving £25. The British section has £275 up for grabs and best bird in show will receive £50. The 2025 show included an excellent sales section and if 2026 is anything like it, then there will be some nice birds available. For further details, call Arwel Roberts on 07798 754 444. NORFOLK FBA the November meeting saw a welcome return of Alan Dixon. Alan is an…

BIRD ROAD NAMES SPIKE RESEARCH FROM THE RSPB reveals a huge increase in road names inspired by bird species experiencing shocking declines. The charity analysed the Ordnance Survey Open Names data for Great Britian for 2004 to 2024. Streets named for skylarks have risen 350 per cent. Meanwhile, the UK’s breeding population has dropped 53 per cent. Other popular species are: starling (up 156 per cent), lapwing (104), swift (58), puffin (54) and nightingale (37). TRACK BTO CUCKOOS ACROSS AFRICA THE BRITISH TRUST of Ornithology (BTO) has an interactive map on its website showing the movements of 12 satellite-tagged cuckoos. A recent update on the Trust’s Facebook page is on two of the birds, Cleeve and Frederic. Cleeve has headed further south, leaving Cameroon and flying into the Republic of…

BUDGERIGARS I FIRST kept budgerigars as a 10-year-old child, but my main interest was exhibiting fancy mice around shows in North Yorkshire in the 1960s. After college and settling down to married life, I started keeping birds again with canaries and British finches in the garden shed and aviaries in West London. After a couple of years of trying to breed Borders, I gave them up for Fife fancy canaries, and became secretary of the Fife Fancy Federation for 22 years. While having a modicum of success in the domestic exhibitions, I was amazed at the variety of canaries that I saw on the show bench when visiting the World Show and judging abroad. I was particularly drawn to the Fiorino frill from Italy, which is a small canary similar…

TRAVEL DURING a recent return visit to Hong Kong, I revisited the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden in Mong Kok. This famous site combines a space for the public to relax with a busy collection of bird shops and stalls. The bird garden, as it stands today, was built in 1997 after the original Bird Street on Hong Lok Street had been demolished to make way for urban development. That old market was a narrow alleyway packed with bamboo cages and a wide array of songbirds. Its spirit lives on in this newer, purpose-built garden, which is nestled among other themed streets, Flower Market Road and Goldfish Street, each of which dedicated to a different aspect of Hong Kong’s pet and plant culture. The proximity of these markets makes possible…

SOUTH HAMPSHIRE BS IT HAS been a very busy end to the summer for the BS, reports Terry Tuxford. At the August meeting, chairman Jim Lawrie recounted how he had recently travelled to Switzerland to visit Daniel Lutolf to purchase birds. He travelled with three other fanciers by car as the intention was to bring back birds on the return journey. Jim told us that Daniel’s birdroom is attached to his house and is about 40 feet by 20 feet and covers two levels. He has 100 breeding cages – 80 upstairs and 20 on the ground floor. Upstairs are two mobile flights and a kitchen area, while downstairs is a large L-shaped flight, a toilet, storage cupboards and an air filtration system. Daniel Lutolf recognises that budgerigars need to…

ABERDEEN BS – December 4, Northern Bowling Club, Orchard Road, Aberdeen, Berkshire AB24 3DP, 7.30pm. Club’s AGM. Enquiries: 01358 721 550. BASILDON CBS – December 8, Felmores Community Centre, Northland’s Park SS13 1SD, 7.30pm. Christmas meeting. Enquiries: 07880 707 502. BRISTOL BS – December 8, Little Stoke Baptist Church BS34 6JW, 7pm. Meeting. Enquiries: 07748 740 794. CARSHALTON, WALLINGTON & MORDEN CBS – December 7, Pavilion, Rosehill Community Centre SM1 3HH, 5-6.30pm. Club sales day. Open 4.30pm for sellers. Enquiries: Norman on 0208 644 9363. CREWE CBS – December 7, Coppenhall Working Mens’ Club, 103 North Street CW1 4NJ, 9am. Annual members’ show – memorial to Herbert Locke MBE. Enquiries: 07775 575 195. GATESHEAD & NEWCASTLE BS – December 10, Swalwell Community Centre, 74 Clavering Road NE16 3ET, 7pm. Christmas social.…