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Who are we? - I could say 'who am I' but that would not do justice to all the other people that have helped put this site together by giving me their advice and assistance completely selflessly - a big thanks to them all, especially those who have helped me with editing. They are; John Robinson (softbills), Derek Robinson (budgies), Sean Young (waxbills), Steve Nesbitt (finches), Jon Hollinshead(canaries), Chis Iles (allsorts) and Pete Wakefield (parrots).
My name is Laus Trigwell (pronounced Loz) and I am a birdkeeper, a complete and utter addict by self confession. The are a few other angles and interests in my life but none of them that gives me quite as much pleasure and peace of mind than the birds - sitting, observing and admiring all there little quirks is so relaxing. I have been keeping finches since I was 12 (roughly 20 years ago), more recently in the past few years I have branched out into canaries, parrotlets, parakeets and doves. My full time work involves running a multimedia design company in Wales, producing all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff for the internet and CD-ROM, so I guess this site is a marriage of work and play. |
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How it all started - I started the site for a few reasons really, mainly because I was given really poor advice a few years ago when I bought my first pair of waxbills and they died within a few months of having them. There aren't many bookshops or newsagents locally that sell bird keeping books or mags and at the time I couldn't find anything on the web either, so I guess that's what spurred me on.
Secondly, I have been overwhelmed with the generosity of the bird keeping fraternity; never have I come across such a bunch of individuals or enthusiasts that are quite so level-headed and selfless. By provided a bit of help webwise I hope I am giving a little bit back, even if it is just to stop them all getting ripped off by dodgy web companies who give the industry such a bad name. Last but not least, this site also gives me an avenue to develop my own web skills and try out new stuff, like the message board for instance - a new for me at the time, but now one of many. |
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How can you help? - Yes I know this page is supposed to be about us, but I can't do it all myself and I would only ever write articles about those species of bird that I have personal experience of. So I need your help, experience and input.
Birdkeeping has been given a bit of a bad press of late with councils closing down aviaries and banning bird sales all over the country, so we do need to educate and make newcomers to the hobby feel welcome and supported. Although I support fully any restriction that increases the welfare of cage and aviary birds it is pure ignorance that is fuelling the flames. Many a time I have been accused of participating in a cruel hobby by self appointed conservationists at dinner parties - my instant reply is always "do you keep cats?". I have nothing against cats, but I am afraid they do to some extent contribute to the fact that the annual mortality rate of a wild british bird is about 8% where as a caged one is around 90%. So if you feel you may be able to contribute an article or even just a reply to the message board queries I would be most grateful. There is an Factsheet Assistant Page within the site which gives guidance on writing Species Care Factsheets.
Thanks for your time - I hope you find the site useful.
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