For the Birds : Aviary: Steckel Park’s 200-plus feathered residents, once housed in unkempt cages, now have new quarters, new full-time keepers and a steady source of seed.

When a brush fire threatened to engulf their home last week, someone was there to hose down the roof.

When the Fire Department moved into their front yard, officials took pains not to disturb them.

And when it looked as if they might have to be evacuated, a service group was ready to help.

Yes, after years of neglect, the birds at the Steckel Park aviary are sitting pretty these days, county officials and bird lovers say. The birds have secure cages, a dependable source of food and water, and round-the-clock attention from caretakers who live at the park, which is two miles north of Santa Paula.

“Things have greatly improved,” said Jolene Hoffman, shelter director for the Humane Society of Ventura County. “We used to go there quite often. People would call us complaining about how the birds were housed.”

That was four years ago, before Ventura County parks officials repaired the aviary and arranged for full-time care for the birds, who now number more than 200.

“So far, everything looks good,” Hoffman said. “We haven’t been out there since they renovated.”

Blake Boyle, the county’s manager of recreation services, agrees that conditions are greatly improved at the county’s only public aviary.

A few years ago, “the aviary was really in pathetic condition,” Boyle said. Peacocks and other birds would escape their neglected cages and roost in the park’s trees. County maintenance workers were responsible for feeding and watering the birds, but they weren’t trained to detect illness or manage breeding, Boyle said.

So park officials decided to give the aviary a major overhaul and new management. Using grant money, they repaired the cages and fixed up an old house next door. With help from the Ventura County Bird Club, they found bird lovers willing to live at the park and care for the birds in exchange for a break on rent.

“Where else could I find a place where I could have birds like this?” said Karrie Gales, who has lived at the park since July, 1989.

She and her husband, David Eaton, brought in several exotic species to complement the county’s flock of mostly domestic birds. The result is a noisy collection that includes parrots, conures, cockatiels, love birds, partridges, quail, ducks, geese, peacocks, parakeets, pheasants, chickens, pigeons, doves and finches. Most of the birds are identified with cage signs that Gales painted.

Breeding season is under way for many of the birds, and Gales hopes to sell some of the offspring to pay for seed. As part of their deal with the county, the couple provides the birds’ seed, which runs about $250 a month, Gales said.

In addition to cleaning cages, providing nest material and scrubbing water bowls with bleach once a week, Gales often leads school groups on tours of the aviary.

An African gray parrot named Chuckie is the most popular attraction, Gales said. “He’s a ham. He whistles and struts and says ‘I’m a good boy.’ ”

The birds get along with their wild neighbors, Gales said. “The coyotes come around at night, but the birds know they can’t get in.” Wild birds often come by hoping to snatch a stray seed. Last week, a blue parakeet--apparently somebody’s pet--perched outside the aviary, apparently looking for a way to join the dozen parakeets inside.

“When birds are lost, they go where they hear other birds,” Gales said. She said she has caught several parrots and parakeets at the aviary and reunited them with their owners.

The aviary was started in the early 1950s when a woman who lived near Steckel Park had to get rid of ducks and other domesticated birds, according to Andy Oshita, the county’s parks manager. A few county maintenance workers built some bird cages at the park, and “it just grew,” Oshita said. “People would drop off birds there, and it gradually became a draw.”

Steckel Park is one of the more isolated county parks, and officials say many county residents probably don’t know the county has an aviary. A few years ago, however, when the county considered closing the aviary because of all the problems, protest letters poured in, Oshita said.

“We got letters from parents and grandparents who remembered taking their kids there,” Oshita said. “They wanted it to stay there.”