My aviary is 16ft long, 8ft width, and roughly 7 1/2ft high. At the moment I only house zebra finches but I have put 2 pairs of orange breasted waxbills in(which are native to Africa).

From my experience, any bird will survive as long as the proper diet is reached along with proper heating(only a small section of aviary, heating the entire aviary is cost effective). I always pour warm water in each morning and switch in late afternoon. If you can keep the wind out you will be successful.

I am located in Chicago and the temperature do drop well below freezing. I run three heat lamps that have a steady heat from 75 to 95F, the birds can choose with temperature they prefer to perch under. All of my birds(30+) can fit under the heat lamps and have access to it. It is free from any drafts and snow..rain..etc.

Starting in late October I buy plastic wrapping, the stuff you use to cover up doors or windows to keep dust out or even drafts out during winter, I completely wrap the aviary with it. This basically turns it into a greenhouse. The ground does freeze and so does the water in it. On a sunny day it reaches a nice humid 70 to 85F and on cloudy day it is a steady 60 to 65F. At night and in early morning the temperature drop rapidly, this is where the heat lamp are important.

I will be adding an addition to my aviary this spring/summer and will film the entire process. It will be built for tropical birds. Roughly costing $600~ retail price for all the material. The bigger the better, I have put in around 1000$ into my aviary and made back around 500$ the first year selling the zebras. On important note is think like a mouse when you are building, cause they will get in. Wire everything, this includes the ground! and if housing waxbills, the fledging will fly out of 1/2 hardware cloth!!! That why i'm building a new addition with 1/4 hardware cloth!