Nick Bishop

 

Nick Bishop

Nicholas was hatched in Adelaide, South Australia, and grew up near the Adelaide foothills.

As a kid, his father bought him a small patio aviary and bunch of budgies. The rest is history, as Nick has been a self-confessed ‘bird nerd' ever since. As a teenager, he drove his family bonkers by bringing home everything from cockatoos to Chinese geese. However, they are really proud he persisted with his hobby because they can now see how happy he is in his chosen career pathway. Nicholas says that they are still bonkers though – but in a good way!

Nick's first studies were in Opera and Classical Voice at Adelaide University when he fledged from the family nest. At the same time, he started working as a volunteer guide at Adelaide Zoo and commenced the first of a number of different jobs as a nurse assistant working in aged care centres. This was great work, contrasting with later roles as a Kindergarten aide, theatre attendant, freelance illustrator, singer, actor and finally a bird keeper in Adelaide Zoo's Bird Department in 1999. This led to Nick's current position as a trainer and presenter with the free-flight bird show at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. In this role, his path crossed with renowned animal behaviourist, aviculturist and conservationist, Mr. Steve Martin where in 2007 Nic joined him as a production director and instructor at Natural Encounters, Florida, USA.
Nicholas' academic qualifications include a Graduate Certificate in Applied Ornithology with Charles Sturt University, Albury, New South Wales and Zookeeping Certificate III with the Box Hill Institute of TAFE in Victoria.

However, Nick's primary qualification is passion. He is passionate about parrots and passionate about learning how to improve the lives of the birds in our care. This is evident in his writing for Fledglings, the Parrot Society of Australia's junior aviculturist publication, for which is he co-creator and author.

Taronga Zoo

Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation

Parrot Society of Australia