Aviculture is the practice of keeping and often
breeding pet
birds, generally
companion parrots, and the culture that forms around it.
Aviculture is generally focused not just on the raising and
breeding of birds, but also on preserving avian habitat, and
public awareness campaigns.
Types of aviculture
There are various reasons that people get involved in
aviculture. Some people breed birds to preserve a
species, some breed parrots as companion birds, and some
breed birds to make a profit.
The truest meaning of aviculture is that described by Dr.
Jean Delacour, the most influential individual aviculture
has ever seen-
"Aviculture- The worldwide hobby of keeping and
breeding numerous species of wild birds in captivity to
maintain their numerical status in nature with a view of
forestalling their extinction by supplying aviary raised
stock"
Avicultural societies
There are avicultural societies throughout the world, but
generally in Europe and the United States, where people tend to be more prosperous
and have more leisure time to invest in such an expensive
and time-consuming hobby.
Avicultural publications
Like many hobbies, there are many publications catering
to aviculture, books on species as pets, books on breeding,
and introductory books for parrots and softbills. There are
also numerous periodicals, both generalized and specific to types of
birds, although they are rarely more specific than "parrot."
These periodicals contain articles on breeding, care,
companionship, choosing a bird, health effects, and usually
several on an individual
species or
genus.
External links