EVENTS

* Shows & mart listings/information is at the bottom of this page.

Located in Southeast Virginia, we're a small aviary with over twenty years of experience with birds. In all my years of being owned by birds and breeding them I'm new to many aspects of the breeding world. One of which is a membership to a local bird club organization. Another is showing birds. Now I have thought of doing it for some time, just never 'got around to it' or had 'time'. It just didn't seem like something I needed to do. Well, let me tell you (LOL) I may not NEED to do it but dern if I'm not hooked into wanting to now :).

Belonging to a local bird club:
Can bring MANY new friends in the bird world closer to you! There's a wealth of information out here for us slaves to the bird world. Did you know you get not only a newsletter, but a listing of other members as well and the types of birds they're experienced with? Did you know at each meeting, there's great fun. Be it raffles (oooo tons of goodies to win!), guest speakers with a vast wealth of knowledge in things you might have considered as well as ones you may have never thought of but need to know, to the many people there to talk to and get to know.
Current events- You're exposed to new happenings in the bird world. By announcements, conventions, bird marts, lectures, charities, books, new information out there etc. The list goes on!
You're a part of an ever growing fascinating world of Parrots that links you through these groups to others who share your interests and goals for these Majestic creatures.
Think it stops there? OH NO!....... There's more!......

Shows & Events:
Bird marts & Bird shows are SO MUCH FUN! There's vendors, novice breeders, Advanced breeders and tons of great folks there to get to know and talk with.
My first bird show was in Williamsburg, Virginia at the Clarion Hotel on April 2 & 3, 2006. Ok I admit .. I've known about these shows & conventions but never got around to going to one. Well, let me tell you I finally did and OH MY I'm hooked .. it's all their fault! My friends bugged me and bugged me to join a group .. finally joined the Peninsula Caged Bird Society in February 2006. Oh it did't stop there .. then they talked me into attending the "Bird Convention". I spoke with my friend about her going with me, she started up on the topic of showing some of our birds. Well, I've never shown one nor had the desire to. I just had a bad taste in my mouth from an exhibitor who 'jacked her prices so SKY HIGH' just because one of her birds won 9th place in the Novice Division. It just seemed snooty to me. I didn't want people to see me that way. I want my birds available to anyone that loves and cherishes them as much as I do, but without the 'Name Brand' or Name Brand Prices that seem to follow a 'Show Bird'/Exhibitor. You see I'm not coming down on people who raise their prices for quality parrots, I'm against the ones who breed, get a big head and forget the main reason they're sticking to a 'standard' when it comes to breeding .. the betterment of the breed/species, NOT a huge price tag. You know the ones ... "This birds great grandfather's mother's uncle won 'Best in show' and so he's $200 unlike your bird who hasn't won anything, isn't kin to any winners, doesn't have a fancy well known name attached to his tail feathers (even though your bird may be a MUCH better example of a 'Standard' than this other bird with a name tag) is only worth $40. It just made no sense to me.
But over the years, I've been pushed and prodded by friends to enter such a show. Saturday I go to the show. My friend who had numerous birds from my flock decided she was going to show two boys from my original Fallow male 'Gill'. Clark ( Cinnamon Pied male) & Taia (Pearl Pied male). I was SO anxious to see how they did! WOW was I proud! 2 & 3 place in their Class & Section. No conditioning, no preparations ahead of time! We decided to come back the next day LOL! She talked me into showing some I had here. OK She put it this way to me "Which ones are you bringing to show? .... OK you bring three I'll bring three."
I decided to test my birds. Boy was I in for a big surprise of how these things work. All the preparations, months of planning, conditioning, etc. that is put into the birds entered. Long story made short? (not possible with me BTW) I had to sit in my bird room for HOURS trying to figure out WHO was going to represent my aviary. NOT an easy task since .. one bird that everybody loves may not be in condition to show (missing flights, molting, set up breeding, etc.) In other words .. my BEST birds (in my eyes at least) were not looking so hot. It seemed Mother Nature was against me. Every time a bird's name popped in my head, I'd run over and check them from head to toe remembering what the Judge had said yesterday as far as what he was looking for in a bird. Mannnn was I disappointed. "Ok, maybe next time I'll enter you." ... SEE? NEXT TIME??? OH MY I'm doing it already .. I'm talking about a "Next time"!! ROFL Yep I got the disease.. showbird follies... breeder jitters.. there is something TRULY satisfying about breeding for the pure pleasure of what you like in a bird and then comparing it to ones people have bred or purchased for the sole purpose of 'showing'.
The Judges in Novice were GREAT! They talked you through everything. Told you what they saw in a bird, what they would LIKE to see in a bird. Why this one is 'this way' and that one isn't. Amazingly interesting to see their opinions, preferences or dislikes and compare them to your own. Or individual Judges for that matter. Yes .. one bird may win "Best in Show" behind one judge, but tomorrow place last... whole new judge, whole new preference/empshasis on another aspect of the birds. Mutational preference etc all bear on the decision. But typically the Judges compare to the 'Standard' of the bird. Or should.
I picked Charms (My most spoiled hen around here, Lutino Pearl), Ania (Whiteface Lutino hen) & her father, Casper (Whiteface Lutino male).
Then comes the problem of Show boxes. Oh yes, you can't place them in just anything! These boxes are outrageously expensive but seem to be in abundance with the show breeders LOL! Some GREAT people offered to loan us some boxes. This gesture elated me. I immediately started viewing this whole ordeal in a different manner altogether. How nice of them. They hardly knew me (one guy didn't at all) but offered and scrambled to get my babies one.
We were only able to find 2. Charms & Ania it was. Casper just wasn't as large as Ania and his tail would have gotten me into trouble after the fight to get him into the travel cage to begin with. Here's how they did:

Ania (WF Lutino) was placed among other whitefaces, not lutinos.. bummer huh? Well, she did GREAT for her first time! She placed 3rd in her Section! She really needed to stop flirting with the Judge .. pacing back n forth on the BOTTOM of the cage lol!
Charms (Lutino Pearl) Placed 1st in her section (she was the only lutino lol) to move up to the Division Judging where she placed 8th!!
She even got a purdy ribbon. I believe her size was a problem since most of the birds entered there were well over 120 grams. She was a tiny little baby who only grew to a mere 103 grams. Her lack of size hurt her. But now I know what to breed her with (As if I didn't already know to 'up' the size of her offspring lol, just now I have a 'second opinion' that I value from a Judge.)

All in all it was a great experience! I took tons of pictures and here they are... see you at the next show!:

Details of later shows (times, dates, location & outcome) are listed under the following pictures

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