We’ve seen people dedicate spaces in their home for birds, such as the HDB with a bird enclosure that we covered a couple months ago. But @thebossyluvbird, owner of 7 love birds, takes that concept to the next level, with an entire room dedicated to the creation of an aviary.
Cageless concept with a centrepiece tree
Image credit: @thebossyluvbird
Clover, the first love bird they had, would always try to get the attention of his owners to be let out of his cage. Their lightbulb moment came when they were struggling over the issue of finding a larger cage: Instead of having an actual cage taking up space in the room, why not have the room itself house Clover?
Clover was rescued by @thebossyluvbird from a crow attack during the Covid period.
Image credit: @thebossyluvbird
They lived in a 4-room 92sqm DBSS and did not have kids, so they were more than happy to give up a room for their adorable new member of the family. And good thing they did as well, as once they gave Clover a companion when the Covid-era work-from-home arrangements ended, the number of birds they had quickly went up to 7.
@thebossyluvbird eventually came up with a cageless concept for the room, where amenities like toys, eating and resting areas would be added to make the aviary a self-contained habitat.
The tree is the centrepiece in the room, on which all the other fixtures are either mounted onto or positioned around. It was hoped that having the tree would help the birds feel more comfortable with its surroundings.
Asher & Jade gazing out the window
Image credit: @thebossyluvbird
The room, originally used for gym equipment, was chosen as it faced the park downstairs. This allowed the birds a view of the outside as well as to soak in some vitamin D from sunlight in the evening. The hammock swing and perch are installed near the window as well after @thebossyluvbird noticed that the love birds seem to enjoy gazing out the window.
The minimalism was intentional; citing IKEA and Apple as inspirations, @thebossyluvbird says that the arrangement was meant to ensure that the aviary was both easy to maintain and allowed for the easy implementation of new add-ons.
Furnishing the aviary without breaking the bank
The tree and most of the toys were purchased from Taobao.
Having the equipment to make an aviary in Singapore is usually quite expensive, as @thebossyluvbird confided. She instead turned to Taobao for most of the items, including the tree itself, the various trays, beds, meshing for the windows and perches. All in all, the entire aviary did not cost more than $1k.
The trays at the bottom help catch poop, making cleaning up easier.
Image credit: @thebossyluvbird
Room modifications that helped keep her birds & appliances safe
The windows in the room are usually closed, but sometimes they have to be opened a bit to allow for ventilation. Naturally mounting a wire mesh on the walls is potentially the most crucial modification to making the aviary possible. It’s not always foolproof though, as they had an incident where the birds peeled the mesh, allowing Draki to escape.
It took the homeowner 2 months to find Draki back when he broke out of the aviary.
Image credit: @thebossyluvbird
Female love birds are quite territorial, so the beds needed to be spaced far enough from each other to avoid conflict between them. The love birds instinctively look for high areas as it makes them feel safe, so all the beds are hung high up on the tree and even mounted on the wall.
All of these modifications did not mean that @thebossluvbird could prevent some initial fighting as the love birds competed over who got the higher beds, but eventually they all settled down.
Air-conditioning sealed to stop the love birds from chewing at it.
Image credit: @thebossyluvbird
One of the key parts of living with love birds is living with the fact that they will gnaw at anything they find and have a tendency to hide in nooks. For both reasons, the air conditioner in the room was sealed with a combination of barriers and covers to stop them from having access to it. Which made sense, as the homeowners had no intentions of using the air-conditioning unit in this room.
A cosy home for Jade and Asher.
Image credit: @thebossyluvbird
@thebossyluvbird mentions always seeing the birds being kept in their cages at the end of the day in other aviary rooms. They got around the issue by teaching the birds to stay inside of the aviary and return to it every evening. This was done through consistent training and avoiding the use of artificial light at sunset.
The result is that the birds would always fly back to their beds at sunset, even at times when they were allowed in the living room to play.
Dedicated an entire HDB room to her pet birds
As the parents of 7 birds, it is clear that the entire aviary is a labour of love by @thebossyluvbird. For those looking to have something similar for their own feathered friends, she says that the key consideration is to keep things minimalist, with enough space for the birds to fly and play.
For more home features:
- A Creamy, Minimalist $100K Reno 5-Room HDB Flat
- One Piece Collector’s $120K Japandi EC Reno
- This Bras Basah HDB Flat With a Zen Pebble Garden
Cover image adapted from: @thebossyluvbird
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