Four Parakeets came back to roost after our cruise, (friends watched them for us, and two were added) thus we needed an...

Aviary to fit the surroundings
It's all gotta start somewhere.

For the aviary, it began with a pile of lumber. Now, anyone can buy wood, but Don took pride in ordering ONLY the wood he would need. Did the same on other projects, a bit obsessive, sure, but you play with the cards you are dealt.

In this case, the cards dealt six 4"x4"8' pieces of landscape timber. Not a single inch went unused.

Also on the supply list for the project was a roll of 1/2"1/2"x4' wire mesh, a handful of 2x2's and a box of wood screws and sixteen lag screws as well as two 4x8' pieces of plywood. A can of enamel paint from the cannon project would come into play as well as some staples from the same project. The rest would be scavenged from our neighbors yard waste.
The framework was made from the landscape timbers. Six feet high, four feet wide and two feet deep. The lag screws were counter sunk and washers held the wood as they were screwed in.

The first set of 2x2s were cut at 45 degrees and screwed in at the top.
The roof was made with two pieces of 1/4" plywood. After the wood was cut to shape, several 2x2 lengths were cut to supply support on the underside and corners. The final shape was filled in with vinyl spackling to waterproof the top.

Six perches were counter-sunk into the top beam for foul-weather perching. Each perch (wooden dowel) was made of a slightly different size, because birds that have to perch with only a single-sized dowel have talons problems down the road (or so we're told).

The roof was painted with a thick coat of enamel paint to protect it from the elements.

An exterior light base was bolted inside the peak so we can run a heat-lamp in cooler weather.

The wire mesh was crimped to size (one length, crimped three times) painted black and then stapled to place. The floor mesh was cut and then stapled in place.

Our maple (soon to be cut down) lost a limb, and we secured it into place inside the aviary.

Two doors, one below for maintenance access, and a feeding door holes were cut, and slightly over-sized doors were cut and hinged with bailing wire.

We snagged some palm fronts from our neighbors yard waste and stapled them to the roof. The project is done. Our birds now have a much bigger place to hang out.

Total cost $122. Time involved: Two football Saturdays (about a full day in total).

All settled in. they seem to like their new digs.