Exhibiting Cockatiels has been "the fall activity" for Lori and Henry Castle and a big part of their lives and avian hobby since 1989. The local bird store in which they did a lot of their business with had been exhibiting for years. They encouraged the Castles to attend a show and see what it was all about. It was pretty evident that the Castles were falling hard for these feathered guys and exhibiting was the obvious next step.
So they went to one of their first bird show events back in December of 1988. Wow, it was great! So many bird lovers all together. One big day of fellow camaraderie and the love of birds. The event also had vendors scattered around the show hall selling birdie goods. It was a whole new aspect to the hobby and they found a new forum for their hobby and their ever growing love of birds.
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The Castles were encouraged to actually show some of their birds. So with exhibiting information in hand they selected a couple of birds to show at the next few events. This included a few of their own bred and banded baby cockatiels. When they did well at these events they were hooked. Also to the Castles surprise they found in some cases they did even better showing their own bred and banded babies. They found it even more rewarding to do well with their own bred birds. From that point on, and to this day, the Castles only show birds bred and banded at their aviary "The Cockatiel Castle".
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Of course, Henry and Lori started this new branch of their hobby as Novice Exhibitors but found themselves doing well so quickly that they achieved advance status within only two fall show seasons. Lori was concerned at first, were their birds good enough to compete in the advanced classes along side the very same people that initially encouraged them to participate? Henry viewed it as, by showing in advanced they already have beaten the novice bird entries and only had the advanced entries to contend with. Well, it became apparent that their Cockatiels could indeed hold their own against the more seasoned exhibitors. In 1991 they championed their first bird, a Lutino-Pearl hen and in 1992 Grand Championed their first bird, a Lutino cock.
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With their continued success on the show circuit, in 1994 they qualified to apply for a judgeship in the National Cockatiel Society. Being that traveling by air would be required in many cases, and Lori doesn't like to fly, Henry took this opportunity. After passing a written test, he started his apprenticeships in 1995. He was officially voted onto the NCS Judges Panel in 1996. So in following with the National Cockatiel Societies guidelines and Cockatiel Standard (click here for the Cockatiel Standard) he has been judging Cockatiel Shows yearly ever since. Henry has enjoyed this aspect of the hobby. He loves to travel and especially loves to meet new bird enthusiast. The hospitality of southerners has made those states among his favorite to visit and judge at.
Over the years as you can imagine the Castles have gained a lot of knowledge as exhibitors. They have written numerous articles over the years. Among them are "Show Box Training" and "The Day of the Show" written to help newcomers looking to get into exhibiting Cockatiels. Click here to review "Show Box Training" and "The Day of the Show" articles.
If you are interested in exhibiting your birds or simply want to see what exhibiting is all about, email the Castles at TielCastle@aol.com for a list of upcoming events that include Cockatiel Shows here in PA and the surrounding states.