What's in the issue

How many shopping days till Christmas? Hardly any! If you need to get cracking with gifts for birdkeepers, we’ve got stacks of ideas in this week's special issue. Whether you keep budgies, canaries or anything else, look no further than our experts’ suggestions (plus the relevant adverts.) And there’s plenty more, starting with a profile of the world’s most successful waterbird, the golden-plumed cattle egret (Christmas wishlist: livefood, livefood and livefood.) We revisit the past of the Gloster canary and update ourselves on Borders and Yorkshires; we also learn how to wean canaries without the grief! With a fistful of classic show reports, news of a deserved award and a cockatiel Q&A, it makes a packed special issue