Somerset Aviaries SDG23

09/05/2026

100 signatures already and we’ve only just started!

Thank you to everyone who has signed and shared the petition so far. It really means a lot seeing so many people support better welfare and protection for psittacine birds.

Every signature helps raise awareness and pushes us one step closer to being heard.
Let’s see if we can hit 200 next. Have you signed yet?

If you haven't already, here is the link below 👇

https://www.change.org/Ban_clipping_birds_wings

08/05/2026

🚨⚠️𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡📢 💜

This is something I feel incredibly passionate about and I finally decided to do something about it.

Today I have officially started a petition to push for better welfare protection for Psittacine birds in the UK regarding unnecessary wing clipping in domestic homes.

Psittacine birds include budgies, parrots, c**katiels, conures, macaws, ringnecks, lovebirds and many more.

Birds are born to fly. Flight is essential for their physical health, confidence, mental wellbeing and natural behaviour. Yet wing clipping is still commonly promoted as a taming method or done simply for convenience.

Sadly, clipped birds can suffer from:
• Crash injuries
• Stress and anxiety
• Loss of confidence
• Behavioural problems
• Muscle deterioration
• Broken blood feathers and bleeding

This petition is not about attacking owners. It is about raising awareness, improving education and encouraging better welfare standards for companion birds across the UK.

We need as many signatures as possible to help show that bird welfare matters and that these intelligent animals deserve a voice.

Please sign, share and help spread the word ❤️
Together we may actually be able to make a difference.

Petition to Review and Restrict the Clipping of Psittacine Bird Wings in Domestic Housing

07/05/2026

𝗜 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽… 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 🐤

She hadn’t had the bird very long and was really nervous about trying to cut the claws herself.

Holding such a small bird while trying to keep the feet still can be quite daunting if you’ve never done it before.

So today I went over to help.
Thankfully the little canary was really calm and well behaved, and the whole thing was done within a few minutes with no stress to the bird at all.

While I was there we also had a chat about general health and mite prevention that can be used to help keep birds healthy.

Sometimes people just need a bit of reassurance and someone to show them how it’s done.

06/05/2026

🚨 𝗜 𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻… 😭💜

Some of my birds have officially been featured in the Budgerigar Society Colour Standards Addendum for 𝗕𝗢𝗧𝗛 the Blackface and Blackwing varieties… and honestly I still can’t believe it.

To have my own birds used in an official colour standards book is something I never imagined when I first started with budgies. Seeing them printed there properly hit me today.

So much hard work, frustration, learning and patience has gone into these lines over the years, especially working with varieties like Blackface and Blackwing. Moments like this make every setback feel worth it.

This is genuinely one of the biggest achievements I’ve had with Somerset Aviaries so far.

Now I need to know… which variety would YOU choose if you could only keep one? 👀
Blackface or Blackwing? 💜

05/05/2026

Shout out to my newest followers! Excited to have you onboard! Nevaeh Martinez, Nick Ince, Peter Farrell, July Ann Novelo Martinez, Scott Williams, Martin Degreef, Pat Dawe, Brendan Mcallister, Yılmaz Çöle, Vittu Sai, Janet Freeman, Angela Adams, Derick Payne, Jeremy Park, Malcolm Mann, Peter O'Connor O'Conchobhair, Aqeel Gouri, Jamie Davies, George Hyslop, Anna Hearson, Asad Hussain, Lutcmi Sooknanan, Nicky Aquarist Lunn, Mohammed Manir, Stephen Mccann, John Mcclean

05/05/2026

04/05/2026

𝙒𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙞𝙧𝙙’𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢… 𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙛𝙖𝙧❓ 🤔

I’m going to say something that might divide people…

Wing clipping should never be used as a shortcut to taming.

Birds are built to fly. It’s not just something they can do… it’s something they need to do. Taking that away doesn’t tame them, it just removes their choice. And when a bird loses choice, it can lead to stress, fear, and even long-term behavioural issues.

I’ve seen it first-hand…
A bird that can’t fly often becomes more anxious, not less. They rely completely on you instead of learning confidence naturally. That’s not trust… that’s dependence.

Then there’s the risks 👇
• Clip done wrong = 𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀)
which can be serious.
• Birds still try to fly = 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀
• Broken bones, damaged keel, or worse
• Loss of balance and coordination
• Mental wellbeing, depression.

And the big one people don’t talk about enough…
A clipped bird can panic, try to fly, and hit the floor or a wall at full force because they think they can still fly properly.

Taming should be built on patience, trust, and time… not by taking away what makes a bird a bird.

I get that some people say it helps… but at what cost?

So let’s have it out properly 👇
𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙙, 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙❓

03/05/2026

If you do not like what I post and do not like what you see in my videos, then simply move on and stop commenting without knowing back stories or the knowledge as to why we breed, why we do what we do, why we specialise in the rare mutations.

Comments like this are not necessary and will be blocked from the page. It's as simple as that.
We are a page that does not condone hate speech or any negativity.

02/05/2026

𝙍𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩… 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 👀

Dominant pied blackface hagoromo c**k paired to a blackface hagoromo hen…

I’ll be honest, this one has got me properly excited 🔥

Between the blackface and hagoromo feathering alone, this pairing has the potential to throw some seriously eye-catching chicks. And with that dominant pied c**k in the mix… we could see some really interesting outcomes.

This is one of those pairings where you sit there checking the nest box far more than you should 😂

Now it’s a waiting game… and if you breed, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

David Wilson

02/05/2026

Gooood Morning everyone!
What a fabulous start to the bank holiday weekend.

We have Rio out on the balcony enjoying his breakfast in the morning sun.
He is absolutely loving it!

01/05/2026

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐌𝐄 𝐀𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑… 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐭 👀

Just added fresh hawthorn into the aviary… flowers and all,
And before anyone says it… yes, I sat there for a full hour cutting every single thorn off 😅
Worth it though.

The birds were straight on it… chewing, climbing, picking at the flowers like it’s the best thing I’ve ever given them 😂

I know hawthorn gets mixed opinions, but for me it’s about giving them something natural, something different… not just the same setup day in, day out.

Sometimes you’ve just got to trust what works for your own birds.

Would you put hawthorn in your aviary… or is it a no from you? 🤔