History

History of the Club

A club member modelling one of the tartan hats that was manufactured for the centennial show (so the hat is 42yrs old at the time of the photo!)

The Dunedin bird club was founded ~1880 (around 142 years ago), making it the oldest bird club in New Zealand, and one of the oldest bird clubs in the Southern Hemisphere. The club was instrumental in the foundation of the NZ Federation of Bird Clubs, which was founded 90 years ago (1932). The first Red Factor Canaries came into NZ through the dunedin bird club, and the club also held the first exhibition for budgies. (Yep, lots of firsts, but that is a given due to the fact that it is based in NZ's oldest city).

The Club is the fifth largest Bird Club in NZ, and held its Centennial (100th) show in 1981. It has gone through some name changes, at one time being the Dunedin Cage Bird Specialists Club, but has since dropped the specialists and cage parts of the name, and is now known as the Dunedin Bird Club.

The club is holding its 141st Annual bird show in 2023.

A selection of medals that were made by the club for bird show awards or other recognitions. As can be seen event badge, the Dunedin Bird Club hosted the 52nd Grand National Show in 1984.