The making of an exquisite garden aviary.

Sometimes people make a simple square aviary for their birds and it takes care of their needs. Then there are pieces of art work that leave an impression on you and this is the story of one such aviary. 

I arrived in Nashville, Tennessee at the beginning of June 2015. My friend Quinton had been talking for a while about making a small aviary in his back garden that would be the future home for a pair of Green Aracaris and a second pair of birds yet to be determined. 

The foundation had just been poured when I arrived. Quinton helped me back Motel Miguel up to its resting spot while I stayed with them. 

He had hired a handyman that was going to do most of the rough work, no timeframe had been given of an end date. As it turns out the handyman was not as quick as Quinton had thought he might be, he was very thorough in his work but slow at it. It was known that he had never built an aviary and therefore less expensive than other contractors. The work was good and nothing to take away from it but others needed to help in order to get the job done before I left Nashville at the end of the month. 

The foundation had a French drain installed to facilitate washing of the indoor holding area. The framework is all pressure treated lumber. 

Solid walls were built on the backside of the outdoor flights in order to keep neighbors from unintentionally disturbing the birds. 

Hardy board was used for these outdoor walls. It was then primed and painted with outdoor paint to match the main house. 

Once the framework was done the roof went up and so did the windows for adequate ventilation. There are two flights to the aviary with indoor and outdoor flight space. Winters can be down to freezing temperatures or below. There are Dutch doors leading from the inside to the outside and the birds can be locked indoors in the winter if needed. 

The walls were insulated. Quintons uncle Joe was up from Texas for a week and he was a huge help with catching up of the work. 

Quintons Mother Donna was also a huge help. If she wasn't painting, 

She was crawling behind the aviary and helping to seal and paint the backside or running to the lumberyard for supplies. 

Quintons partner Matt was in charge of quality control. He is very thorough and spotted anything needing attention. He did most of the minute detailed work, along with Larry his father who came over for one week to also lend a hand. Without all of their help the build would have gone on for an additional month!

The electrician came over to ensure all was up to code. 

Quinton, Matt and his father Larry putting up siding on the backside of the aviary. 

I just had to capture my working mans version of the famouse scene in the Sistine Chapel!

Quinton worked extremely hard on his new aviary that at times he got a little silly when he saw my camera!

A trellis was also installed on the neighbors side in order to have vines grow and give them a pleasant view instead of just a thirty some foot wall. This is very thoughtful and shows how much one needs to think of the neighbors. It not only gives the birds privacy but also the neighbors. 

Larry and Matt finishing up and replacing the fence back. Once the vines grow in it will be a beautiful view for the neighbors. 

Some days work went on into the late evening in order to keep it moving along. The siding was installed to match the style of the main house. 

Once the outside rough work was done then the inside was completely lined with FRP. It's a plastic material used in bathroom walls and makes it much easier to wash walls down. Quinton wanted to make work easier and the sanitary benefits of it are a plus. 

Once the inside walls were done it was time to work on the indoor decider wire walls. Yes, even I helped out every now and then!

So did Quintons friend Kyle. Here they are with the first dividing wall that went in through the single doorway behind them. 

We made our own door frames....

Internal wall being installed. 

The vinyl coated wire was attached to the wall. 

We then got to work on the outside flight space. It also was made out of black aluminum one inch tubing and lined with the black vinyl covered wire. 

Finishing touches to the building were done. 

Tilling of the soil and planting of landscaping went in. 

Quinton, Matt and Larry standing in front of the aviary after the aracaris were released into it. 

I had to leave Nashville to continue on my journey before the second aviary was completed.

We never thought about the roof line and that it might be hard to pull Motel Miguel out. Luckily we had a couple of inches of clearance and nothing was harmed in the process!

I said my farewells to my friends Quinton and Matt on the morning of July 7th. It's never easy leaving my friends behind but I was glad to have been a part of making Quintons dream of having a nice garden aviary come true. 

I had to leave Nashville before the second aviary was completed. Quinton sent me these pictures of the completed aviary and I have to say that it's the best small garden aviary I've seen ever. It was a lot of hard work to do this and I'm happy to have been a part of it. 

The Aracaris are happy in their new home.