Pierre Swart 2026

Breeder Visit to Pierre Swart in Tierpoort, South Africa
By Marcel Buhler

On our last trip to Africa, due to the flight schedule, we had a 24-hour stopover in Johannesburg, which provided an opportunity to make a short visit to my “old” friend, Pierre Swart. At this point, a big thank you to Pierre for the not so self-evident driving service to and from O.R. Tambo Airport in Johannesburg. We really appreciated it. After a short drive, we arrived at the beautiful property of Pierre and Yvonne Swart. Even the wonderful garden and the view alone would have been worth a visit.

From the veranda, with a chilled cola in hand, seeing zebras and impalas — you do not get that every day. Right next to the house stands Pierre Swart’s show budgerigar breeding facility. The facility is solidly built and fully tiled. Several large windows provide enough natural light, as well as plenty of fresh air.

For breeding, Pierre uses only full-wire cages with exterior nesting boxes made of plastic. Four large indoor aviaries, each equipped with its own window, offer enough space for both young and adult birds. The aviaries are mounted approximately 50 cm above the floor and have a wire floor. This greatly simplifies cleaning, as dirt and food remnants fall onto the floor and can then be easily swept together.

What I liked especially is that Pierre does not focus only on the “Normal” colour varieties in his breeding. You can also find Lacewings, Inos, Recessive Pieds, Easley Clearbodies, Dilutes, and so on. These colour varieties are also of excellent quality.

Just two days before our visit, he was able to present the best of the “Rare” colours with a fantastic Easley Clearbody Grey Green Cock at the Regional GAUTENG 2026 Championship Show in Roodepoort.

After our tour of the birdhouse, we returned to the veranda where Yvonne had already set the table. With excellent food and many technical discussions, time unfortunately passed far too quickly, and we had to return to O.R. Tambo Airport in Johannesburg, as our flight back to Switzerland was waiting.

Pierre and Yvonne, our heartfelt thanks for your hospitality, the excellent food, and a fantastic day. We are sure that this was definitely not our last visit to South Africa. We will come back!

Easley Clearbody Grey Green Cock

Although the vast majority of his top birds were in breeding, here at the end of my little report is a small selection of show budgerigars from the breeding of Pierre Swart.