How to Make an Enclosure for Your Birds

Translated by Nick R

Do you have a pet bird and want to build the best space for it to live happily in the best conditions? Have you thought about a large space with all necessary accessories?

Table of Contents

A yard enclosure for my bird?

Space is really important for any pet, especially in the city and when your home is not so spacious as farms and rural areas, where many birds are raised. Birds have become one of many people’ favorite pets in the city. Therefore, many creative ways to adapt and enrich the space of these animals to the physical conditions of a city home are coming up.

You may wonder whether having a special space for birds at home is a good idea or you should just adapt their cage and that’s it. Well, my advice would be to create a patio, which could be the best place for your friend. Much more than a simple cage that limits his capacity to fly and recreate. I mean, a cage is necessary, but not the only thing the bird needs.

What do I need to create a bird enclosure?

Read on if you think it’s a good idea to adapt a special space for your friend. Creating a yard for your bird requires several tools and accessories to enrich the place, among them, these are the most important ones:

Large aviary (built or purchased).
Perches of all sizes.
Drinkers.
Feeding troughs
Bathtubs or water fountains.
Ladders.
Branches and trunks.
Plants and natural herbs.
Rocks and soil.
Toys.
Misting system (optional).
Foraging tray (optional).

Types of enclosures for pet birds

There are two types of enclosures depending on where you live. If you are a city person, your enclosure will be different from the one of a person who lives in a country area: some things will change, the extension and, of course, the way of adapting it.

Country enclosures for birds

While country enclosures are all those spaces suitable for pet birds in rural areas, country dwellings or urban residences with gardens, have the conditions for more extensive and natural outdoor spaces.

Urban enclosures for birds

Urban bird yards are all those spaces suited to the interior of urban residences either in a backyard or on a terrace, offering pet birds more freedom, physical activity and compensating for the consequences of captivity on the birds’ health.

Learn how to build a pet bird enclosure

The instructions shown here work for both country and urban enclosures. So, to create the bird patio of your dreams, follow the next step by step:

1. Set up a spot for your pet birds’ patio

The first step is to adapt the space. It must meet some conditions to be optimal for your pet birds. In this sense, you must comply with the following five conditions in the space you are going to destine for your birds’ enclosure:

It must be ample

The place must be large enough to afford them a certain level of freedom and, above all, to offer them the possibility of flying farther away.

It must be exclusive

The area must be exclusively for your birds (inside and outside the aviary). Even if you have other pets, you should give them a different place. Additionally, I don’t recommend that you store clothes in the same place where you keep the birds, or use it for any other purpose than caring for your birds.

Watch out for your bird

This place is sacred and must be safe. It’s very important that, if you have other pets such as cats and dogs, they are trained to coexist with birds or you don’t allow them to go near the yard. Beware of predators and toxic substances, and keep your bird away from the kitchen or other places that pose a danger to its life.

It must have good ventilation

The place must have proper air circulation to provide the birds with fresh air without exposing them to drafts or cold. If it is an urban patio inside the residence, it has to be covered by a roof.

It must receive sunlight

Wherever you’re going to adapt the enclosure, it must be well-lit and shaded at the same time. Sunlight is necessary for the health of birds, as is shade in sunny seasons in the northern and southern hemisphere countries, or in tropical countries in months of lower rainfall.

2. Arrange the aviary in your pet birds’ enclosure

Building a patio completely for your winged friends is a time-consuming task, and you have two ways to go:

Buying an aviary for your birds enclosure

Your first option to get a worthy aviary is to buy it. There are different sizes and prices that can better fit to your space and budget.

Large aviaries are those measuring more than 1 meter high and 80cm wide, and you’ll find them in stores with prices starting at 170 dollars.

However, to create the patio, the best way is to adapt a larger aviary, in this case, over 2m high and 2m wide and deeper than 1.50m (depending on the space and the size of the species). A birdhouse of these dimensions can be found in the pet bird accessories market at a price of over 350 dollars.

What should I keep in mind when buying the aviary?

When buying the aviary you must take into account several items to make the best decision considering your bird’s welfare and your budget. The points to consider are as follows:

Resistant materials in stainless steel and welded or wood with protector (varnish).
Space for the enclosure (size of the aviary).
Size of the holes in the mesh (depending on the size of the birds).
Rectangular shape is advisable (provides reference points for the bird).
Two doors if possible (prevents birds from escaping).

More ideas!

How to build an aviary for your bird enclosure?

The other alternative requires more than money, either your own workforce or someone else’s. You can build your birdhouse yourself in a very simple way and enjoy the construction from the very beginning.

You can build the aviary in wood or steel. The first one for outdoor patios and the second one for indoor ones; however, you can use wood for interiors. In some cases, there is another ecological way, using PVC pipes. Let me show you how to make a bird enclosure using any of the two materials.

Materials for the aviary

To build an aviary you need the following 13 basic elements:

Stainless steel mesh with welded joints (not galvanized).
Wooden or stainless steel frames (dimensions depend on the size of the aviary).
Measuring tape.
Roof tiles.
Reinforcement brackets.
Hinges.
Pin or lock holder.
Screws and nails.
Hammer.
Nailer/stapler.
Drill.
Cutter.
Welder.
Varnish or oil.
Hose and emitters for misting (optional).

Instructions to build an aviary

Follow the following procedure to build easily and quickly the best birdhouse ever:

Gather all the materials and all the tools.
Make the measurements.
Adapt or create a foundation for the aviary with a natural or synthetic, non-toxic, non-edible floor. You can also adapt a tray underneath if the aviary is indoors to facilitate cleaning.
Cut the frame pieces to the corresponding measurements to the size of the aviary.
Make the joints with the steel cutter (only if you use steel).
In wood, join the pieces to each other with nails or by welding the steel pieces together.
Reinforce the joints with brackets.
Coat the wood with varnish (only if you use wood).
Staple the mesh to the wood with a nailer or screw the mesh to the steel frames.
Install a door with hinges. You can also build a small hall to adapt a second door with its respective lock or pin.
Place the roof with the tiles.
Decorate the aviary.
Incorporate a misting system by joining several hoses with their respective emitters. Staple the hoses to the roof.

Get familiar with your aviary!

3. Furnish the enclosure for your pet birds

The accessories should be both inside and outside the cage or house. No matter how large the aviary is, the animal must get out to recreate outside. Therefore the importance of a well-ventilated place, but with a roof for urban patios inside a residence.

Incorporate natural elements in the enclosure

The idea of having an aviary is giving your birds the best place to live. Among the most valuable elements are those that recreate their natural habitat and allow them to live more connected with nature, awakening their instincts. The more natural the environment the better.

Plants

Introduce plants into your aviary, preferably plants that are found in the natural habitat of your species. If you can’t get them, that’s no problem. If you have a country backyard, it will make things easier for you.

Perches

Arrange logs and branches, inside and outside the aviary, where your friends can perch while flitting all over the place. It will be easier if the yard is country and you have trees.

The Ground

Recreate a natural floor with soil, grass, rocks, bark and branches throughout the aviary. This will also facilitate foraging and natural nest building.

Water

You can also incorporate water fountains or small waterfalls that reproduce their natural habitat and provide fresh water for hydration and bathing.

Misting

Misting is a widely used irrigation system for greenhouses. In this case, it would be used to simulate a wet and rainy season (abundance of food), in which birds are induced to engage in certain behaviors such as mating. This system expels water mist through a hose network and emitters. I recommend it for outdoor patios.

Incorporate accessories into the enclosure

Once you have set up the patio, you can start incorporating the accessories inside and outside the cage for your friend to enjoy inside and outside in its new unique environment. Obviously, your pet can leave the aviary if the yard is covered or if it has been properly trained to go out in the open without running away.

Basic accessories

Strategically, place the most important accessories such as feeders, drinkers and bathing bowls. The latter with the possibility of being replaced or complemented with water sources such as small basins and waterfalls.

Additional perches

You can use additional perches to complement the natural trunks and branches. In addition to ladders, other elements where birds stand and pass from one side to the other.

Toys

This type of accessories are essential and you can add as many as you want, keep them both inside and outside the cage. In this case you could adapt a play center with obstacles and challenging exercises for the bird. Remember they are very intelligent animals.

Foraging

The foraging tray is optional. If you decide to incorporate one, you can use a plastic or aluminum container to stimulate this natural behavior or leave objects scattered throughout the aviary for the bird to chew, break and select objects among rocks, logs, seeds, among others.