climatize cockatiels / lovebirds

[Vanessa Sandoval]

I have a question. I have an outdoor aviary and I live in Southern California. What is a good temperature where you can leave the birds outside overnight? Currently, I move the birds indoors at night. I was told that once you get tempertatures of at least 55 degrees for 3 nights in a row it is safe to leave the birds outside. We are going to be 57 tonight and the temp goes up to like 61, 63, and 65 the following days. Could I start leaving my birds outside now? I will tarp around the aviary so that they don't have the breeze blowing on them.

Any advice about this would be wonderful, thanks!

[love_lovebirds]

hi there,

:) I have many friends who have outdoor aviaries and have no problem leaving them out when the temp doesnt go below 20 degrees at night. Oh, Im Australian so im talking in celcius so that'd be about 68 degrees F. so i think you would be fine.. as you have smaller birds, keep an eye on the temp as budgies and lovebirds dont tolerate the cold as well as bigger ones (they were meant for long hot days in Oz and South Africa originally!) As long as you put up tarp and create a windbreak, you should be fine, and I'm sure you'd provide adequate shelter within the aviary (nest boxes, hidey holes and covered perches.)

good luck with it all :)

Mels

PS I will be in Southern California in July for a university placement - sooo exciting... how hot will it be then?

Here its getting colder so people are starting to bring their birds in now :)

[catschair]

Depends where you are going -- we have a bit of everything in Southern Cal! Name the school and I bet we have someone who can tell you the local "spots". Lots of cool things going on (and if you get here early you can even hit the bird fair at the end of June!!)

[Tiki]

The climate of southern California is pretty close to that of Sydney. Cockatiels are outback birds so it is possible that winters could get too cold for them. I'd say they would be fine through at least October if you want them to have some sunshine. Be sure to bring them inside for cuddling though so they stay friendly.

[Vanessa Sandoval]

Thanks for the advice. I have asked a couple of local bird breeders and they have said that the birds can stay out year round, its just that you have to get them used to the outdoor temps. I don't want to set my birds outside and then have them get a cold / sick, etc. Our weather appears to be warming up, but you never know, we could get a cool night still before summer is really here. I just want to be really cautious. I had set them out during the day last week and it got a bit nippy and one of my tiels has been sitting around fluffed up a lot. I put her in a cage by herself and have been keeping her more covered. She looks good this morning. I will probably keep her in the house the rest of the week and if she is fine by the weekend I will put her with the rest of the birds. I just think she may have gotten cold. If she doesn't look happy this afternoon though I will take her into the vet.

I do handle them a lot and was wondering also if I could make them sick. I wash my hands contantly and don't let my kids handle them unless they wash first too. Can you give a bird a human cold?

For you coming in June - where I'm at it will be pretty warm by then. We are usually around upper 80's - low 90's in June. Thats Bakersfield - if you are going more coastal then you could have temps drop around the mid 70's. June is not a bad month to visit - it should be nice, especially if you are going to be near the beach.

[Vanessa Sandoval]

oops, I see you are coming in July - I read that as June before. It will be a bit warmer in July. We can easily hit 100 here in Bakersfield - if you are coastal though it should still be nice. You should go to San Diego if you want really nice weather...