Aviary Is Revitalized for Birds of All Feathers : Santa Paula: County officials attribute resurgence of the Steckel Park sanctuary to its new caretaker.

It is a decades-old sanctuary for unwanted birds, a wire mesh breeding ground of Australian love birds, Chinese geese and blue-crowned conures from South America.

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Nestled in the oak woods north of Santa Paula, the Steckel Park aviary has for years been home to hundreds of exotic birds from across the globe as well as run-of-the-mill pigeons, quail and turkeys spared from Thanksgiving tables.

“Most of them have been donated by people over the years,” said John Eckert, 34, who supervises the aviary in exchange for free rent in a nearby stone cottage just off California 150.

“I’ve had people bring in Mandarin ducks, parakeets, you name it,” said Eckert, who scoops out 650 pounds of seed to the birds each month. “The other day I had a lady offer to donate a turtle. I’m thinking about it.”

In the 10 months since Eckert moved his family into the 1930s-era home, signs of its glory years have been returning to the aviary, county park officials and bird lovers say.

“It was a grand old lady that sort of fell by the wayside,” said parks operations supervisor Pam Gallo. “We picked her up and gave her a new set of clothes.”

Visitors stream onto the grounds at a brisk clip. On a typical summer day, Eckert sees 60 or 70 people, but on weekends hundreds of people will tour the aviary.

“I remember it from a long time ago,” said Don O’Toole, an electronics consultant from Kern County, who stopped by earlier this week. “I used to bring my children here in the 1950s.”

On this visit, though, O’Toole said he missed some of the aviary’s past attractions.

“There’s not the same variety here there used to be,” said O’Toole, who once lived in Thousand Oaks. “I haven’t seen the raven or the variety of California birds they used to have here.”

Eckert, a Ventura Regional Sanitation District worker who has managed the sanctuary since October, said there is a constant rotation of birds because some die, new ones hatch and others are sold.

“It just keeps evolving,” he said.

Things got pretty dire for the flighty critters in the 1980s, when Humane Society of Ventura County officials were routinely alerted to dirty cages, scarce water supplies and mice rummaging through bags of seed.

“It used to be in real bad shape,” said Jolene Hoffman, humane society shelter director. “We’d get calls all the time.”

But following a $25,000 renovation by California Conservation Corps members in 1988, the bird population blossomed to more than 200 animals, and the calls to the humane society have dipped to a trickle.

“The complaints that have come in have not been serious,” Hoffman said. “Just educational calls to try to correct a situation that could potentially have been harmful to the animals.”

Viola Turner, a Ventura County Bird Club member who lives across Santa Paula Creek from the aviary, said Eckert needs more help in acquiring top-notch exotic birds.

“If there was more public support, there would be a bigger variety,” Turner said. “But the aviary is very beneficial for people to learn about threatened or endangered species because we may never see them otherwise.”

The aviary is stocked with dozens of different species--from geese to ducks to peacocks and a variety of more exotic breeds such as cockatiels.

Eckert, his wife, Cathy, and their daughters, Candyce, 7, and Erin, 5, take turns feeding and watering the birds and cleaning the cages. The Eckerts pay for the feed--about a dozen 50-pound bags a month--in exchange for free rent.

On occasion, Eckert said, his girls bring one or two of the animals to class for show-and-tell. But sometimes, he said, caring for the birds gets serious.

“Last Thanksgiving Eve was a tough one,” Eckert said. “There were four guys coming around after dark looking at the turkeys. So every few hours I was up, making sure they were OK. I thought they might cut the fence.”

Fifteen-year-old Tom and his 3-year-old mate, Momma, were much relieved, Eckert said. But they still haven’t been able to reproduce.

“They mate,” Eckert said. “But they can’t keep the eggs in here because Tom’s so awkward he steps on them.”

A week after Eckert moved into the stone house last fall, a wildfire swept through Steckel Park, burning thousands of acres and threatening the aviary.

“The birds got a little nervous,” Eckert said. “I was standing here watching the fire burn down the hill, but it never crossed the road. The whole thing was a little eerie.”

FYI

The Steckel Park aviary is located inside Steckel Park, a 35-acre Ventura County park and picnic grounds about four miles north of downtown Santa Paula on California 150.

Its summer hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, although on weekends and holidays, the park requests a $2 per-car entrance fee. Beginning in September, it will close at 7:30 p.m.