Dunedin Wildlife Hospital board member and Dunedin city councillor Steve Walker said the aviary at the gardens was due for a change.
While it was in no way a criticism of aviary staff, Cr Walker said the public appetite for caging birds was not what it once was.
"There’s a fantastic opportunity actually for Dunedin over time for the aviaries to move into a conservation space, and I think that can definitely be done in partnership with either the Department of Conservation and/or the wildlife hospital.
"The opportunities for rehabilitation, and particularly specialist rearing and release back into the wild of some of our endangered native species, is far more the way forward.
"The younger generation are simply going to demand that we move away from caging birds who want and absolutely need to fly and move into a more conservation-focused facility."
Cr Walker hoped the issue would be addressed in the strategic development plan for the garden being drafted by council staff.
"I haven’t seen it yet but I am fully anticipating and hoping that the discussion ... of the aviary’s future is a fundamental and key part of that."
A council spokesman said a draft development plan for the Dunedin Botanic Garden was due to be presented to council in November.
