About the aviary

My passion for birds began when I was barely 6, with my father, breeding racing and posture pigeons. Later I took up breeding Cuban finches: canaries, painted buntings, Cuban bullfinches, Cuban grassquits, yellow-faced grassquits, blue grosbeaks and more. All of them are songbirds. There were Gouldian finches back then, but they were too expensive for me.

I never entered shows, but I did work hard at improving my line of posture pigeons (pouters). Over the years my standard rose little by little until I had excellent birds, and I kept at it for many years, until the economy got worse and it became very hard to keep an aviary of almost 170 birds alive. But I always kept a few birds at home.

When I came to Canada I met a Cuban breeder, Jorge Betancour, who bred Gouldian finches. He let me have a few birds, and with my little experience of Gouldians I lost some. Little by little I became more interested in how they develop, their feeding, the moult and their genetics, and when I discovered the variety of colours and mutations in them, I simply fell in love.

I started showing as a novice, and in that first year I won awards such as Best Novice and Best Bird in Show, and so on in the years after. In just 4 years I have won awards with both Gouldians and canaries, and moved up to champion in only 3 years. This year, my first as a champion, I won Best Canary in Show (lipochrome) and second place in Gouldians at both the baby show and the adult show in Victoria. Soon we travel to Vancouver.

This hobby has become part of my life, my therapy. I have no words for how much it motivates me: every year I learn more and the passion grows. I love working on the genetics of both species, and I know the road is long, full of joy, disappointments, losses, shouts of delight and pride in my effort and dedication.

I will keep showing, looking for what in my own opinion is the perfect bird, but nothing will beat my own satisfaction. My aim is to compete with the breeder I was yesterday: at every step, every decision, every genetic cross, to be happy and enjoy what I do, because in the end that is what really matters.

Aviario Ashee: ashee is a symbol of good luck, effort and good energy. The word comes from my Yoruba religion, brought to my homeland by Africans who were made slaves. That is where my family comes from, a mix of Spanish and African, and I carry it in my blood with pride. Ashee, ashee, ashee!

I invite you to discover this wonderful world with me, and as my friend and teacher, Mr. Juan Farrat, says: “We will leave this hobby better than we found it!” Blessings to all.