Here come the shows! The main season is just around the corner, and that means the National Exhibition is on the horizon. The event at Stafford on October 5 is by far Britain’s biggest all-variety open show and in this issue we have details of all the clubs that are putting on a section - that’s 18 clubs, 18 sections, a record! So whatever your variety, you can start to sort your show team and contact the organisers for the big day. Far from Stafford (you’d think) is the world of the fabulous Inca tern, a superb seabird native to Peru and Chile. Yet the reason we’re featuring it is that it’s a popular and easily kept bird in collections, which can probably be enjoyed at a zoo near you. Plenty more this week, too: on Bengalese and zebra finches, native hardbills and prepping for Stafford.   Pride of place this week: an interview with Geoff Bowley, one of the best and most popular budgerigar fanciers around. Why now? Because Geoff has recovered after a strenuous year as Budgerigar Society president. This is no paper honour, it’s a job, and we hear in Geoff’s own words how his presidential year unfolded, making club visit after club visit, and what it meant to him. A very special honour for a very special fancier. On the front cover, meanwhile: shrikes! These princely predators are cage bird favourites when available - but do birdkeepers pause to consider how predation has shaped the way nearly all birds have developed? It isn’t just physical traits but behaviour, says our science writer Paul Donovan. Among other highlights: softbills, sales tactics, finches, books and birdparks.

Here come the shows! The main season is just around the corner, and that means the National Exhibition is on the horizon. The event at Stafford on October 5 is by far Britain’s biggest all-variety open show and in this issue we have details of all the clubs that are putting on a section - that’s 18 clubs, 18 sections, a record! So whatever y....