Welcome to Platinum Aviary

In 1976, Denis Sloan began his life-long love of parrots. After owning parrots as pets, Sloan developed an appreciation for the unique characteristics of various species. By the mid ‘80’s (before the world-wide ban on imported species to the United States) he began to purchase and breed wild-caught Conures and Cockatoos.

Within two years, Sloan had successfully bred approximately 25 pair of exotics primarily specializing in Cockatoos.

Denis became the aviary manager for the Solano Creek Aviary, Saint Augustine, Florida in 1993. There he gained extensive experience in the breeding and care of exotics on a much larger scale. Having further developed his skills and interests, Denis progressed to aviary manager at another large aviary in Texas. The culmination of this knowledge and experience led Denis to open a retail store in Indianapolis, Indiana. The store, Bird Fever, quickly became known as “the” place to purchase exotic birds and supplies in the Midwest.

In 2000, Denis lived and worked outside of a small town near San Carlos, Costa Rica. There, he assisted Tom Armstrong with the propagation of Great Green and Scarlet Macaws. The government of Costa Rica turned over parrots that had been confiscated from captive environments to Denis and Tom for the purpose of reintroducing them to the wild. Together, they established a free-flying flock of approximately 24 macaws, which now fly over the town of San Carlos ( Ciudad Quesada ) and are now managed by the gentleman whom owns the La Marina Zoo.

Denis returned to the United States and Bird Fever, but his profound desire to strengthen endangered species persisted. On October 19, 2006, Denis sold Bird Fever to devote all of his time to breeding exotics. Denis relocated to central Florida where the climate would be more conducive to breeding. With the assistance of Jeff Smith of Corners Ltd. in Kalamazoo, Michigan www.cornerslimited.com , Denis designed then built an aviary for his breeding pairs. During the first four months Denis's dream was realized when two Major Mitchell's Cockatoos were hatched.

As of 2011, Denis has raised and hand-fed over 2,700 exotic birds and has bred over 80 different species. It is his firm belief that he needs “to breed endangered species to try to keep the gene pool continuing, because without private breeders certain species would not exist. The Spix Macaw is a prime example of a species that is near extinction; there are no longer any in the wild." In 2011 Platinum Aviary will focus once again on endangered species that are out of the ordinary. I am looking for a few more endangered species and would be willing to trade some for others. Platinum Aviary has been focusing on the Blue Head Macaw, Queen of Bavaria, and Cuban Amazons. In February of 2011 Denis has again returned to the bird store business with the purchase of 1-2 Tweet Birds in Brandon, FL. a suburb of Tampa, FL. Denis once again is using his knowledge of raising birds and education of different species to educate his clientele about the needs and care for any of the birds that they might be interested in purchasing. The store is listed on Facebook and there you will see some of the new babies that we have taken photos of.


		Stewart is one of our advisors and has an interest in some of the birds at the aviary. Stu lives on the North side of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and is one of the most experienced and successful breeders of exotic parrots in Australia. He has been rasing birds for over 25 years, is the President of the Parrot Society of Australia and has been associated with us for around 13 years. Between Stu and Denis the two are bringing together their collective knowledge and raise more of the Endangered Species birds and very few of the common pet birds. Stu also raises in Australia Eclectus, Amazons, Conures, Macaws and African Greys.