Our story

After a number of years, the canaries, zebra finches, and aviary birds had to make way for the parrots. First came a pair of Forpus parrots, after which we gradually moved up in size: Lovebirds, Pyrrhuras, African Grey Parrots, and so on. Each time a little bigger and more. When I moved out and started living on my own, a proper shelter had to be built for the birds first. By then, I already had a beautiful collection of large parrots. No sooner said than done, the kitchen and bathroom could wait a little longer (the birds could not). A beautiful shed was built at the back of the garden with 7 night quarters and outdoor flights. I have always considered it important that birds could use their wings, and there was plenty of space for that in the new shelter.

Precisely because I found that so important, I realized that my greatest dream might never come true. That dream was to have a Macaw, but there simply wasn’t enough space for one. Until I discovered something called Free Flight, which was the perfect opportunity for us to keep a Macaw and let it fly in the largest aviary there is (the outdoors). In 2017, we bought our first Macaw and tame bird Freddy, a blue-and-yellow macaw male, bred and trained by Jan van der Schilt. Over the years, as my wife had already predicted, three more large macaws joined us, so now we have two beautiful pairs.