Natural Aviary!

[FF218]

Hello,
Just to introduce myself, my name is Josh and Im 16. I havnt kept birds for a very long time, but I have wanted one my whole life. I got Elvis about a year and a half ago when he was just a baby. He is a cockatiel that I got at a pet store, he was very friendly and eager for attention. He is still going strong and comes out with me every day. I keep him fully flighted, which although most people are againts it, I enjoy him having the ability to fly. Anyway now Im ready to venture into some Finches! Anyway, onto the good stuff...

Intro to Aviary:
Anyway, I finally got the ok to build an aviary for some finches! I've been doing alot of research and I really want to make it look as natural as possible. Me and a family friend (he's the handy man with all the tools!) are going out tomorrow to get supplies and plan to spend the whole day monday and the whole day tuesday building it. I'm thinking about keeping it all australian birds (zebra finches and some diamond doves and elvis [on occasion, supervised of course!]). But, recently after reading this board and another one; I am a bit worried about the Zebra's temperment.
I picked them basically because they were cheap and active and kinda cute but now I'm having second thoughts. Do you think its worth it to just save up money and immediatly get into some of the more exotic, yet more docile finches for my mixed aviary? I love Gouldians and Cordon Blues and Orange cheeked Waxbills. They are by far my favorite finches. Is it worth it to just save up my pennies and jump in, or should I start with the 'begginer birds'?

Location, Location, Location:
I have the perfect location for my aviary! It is a balcony that is enclosed on 3 sides. The balcony is the perfect location because it is semi-shaded, has stone tile floors, 2 large drains (one in each corner), and is so high up off the ground that predators wont be much of an issue! It has 2 windows and a french door which will be perfect for viewing. The balcony also has lights and electric already outside so it seems to be the perfect area for my aviary.

Decoration:
I want to keep it really tropical/jungly looking with hanging baskets with orchids in them and little coco hut nests and a shallow bathing pond, natural brach perches, and some bushy, tropical plants and some small palm trees . Anyway I know that the plants are going to take a beating, which is why I plan to severly understock (maybe 2 pairs of finches, 3 max) and strategically place perching spots so that the plants dont continually get pooped on. I also plan to make a small pond with a waterfall in the corner or something. For ground cover, I wanted to do something that wasnt very practical but more astethetically pleasing, so I started looking into different ground covers. I decided that the best thing was this rubber substitue that looks like mulch, but is really 100% recycled rubber.

Anyway, pics later! Questions?/Comments?/Answers to my questions
thanks a lot!
-Josh

[FF218]

Here you can see one of the drains and the tile floor and obviously the table and chairs:


Here is the blacony from the inside, its a shame that its so hard to take good pictures of it:

[BigBird]

Save up for the exotics. Zebras are cute, they breed all the time, but if you want a variety of finches they will cause trouble if you want to breed. They steal nesting from the other birds and will make several nests. I have them mixed with exotics and I regret getting them, but thats just me. They are cute though.