Imports and exports
Mis Plumas lets you take information out of the app to share, print or keep it, and also import some data when you need to recover it or move it elsewhere.
Backup or export
A backup is for recovering the whole app: database, restorable preferences, aviary profile and attachments if you include them.
An export is for sharing or reviewing a specific part: inventory, health, light plan, aviary statistics, an individual bird or a PDF/HTML/CSV document.
If you are going to change phones or want to protect your whole aviary, use backups. If you want to hand over information or review it outside the app, use exports.
When an export finishes, the app shows actions according to the file type. PDFs open first in a full-screen preview, where you can share, print or save them without having to save them first; CSV, HTML, XLSX and ZIP files can be shared or saved, without a print option.
Backups
From Settings → Backup you can create Google Drive backups or local backups. Local backups can include attachments in a .zip file.
Before restoring a backup, the app warns you that the current data will be replaced by the data in the selected backup.
With sync active, afterwards you have to decide what to do with the account: Replace the cloud with what you restored, or The cloud wins to get the cloud data back. Until you choose, this device stays paused. See Cloud sync.
Open or share files with Mis Plumas
You do not have to open Settings first. From Files, Downloads or another app, use Open with… Mis Plumas or Share → Mis Plumas:
| Recognised file | Action |
|---|---|
Full .sqlite backup or ZIP with attachments |
Opens the full restore flow. |
Aviary CSV ZIP or Excel .xlsx file |
Opens the aviary import and warns that current data will be replaced. |
| Individual bird record in ZIP or CSV | Opens the import that adds the bird to the aviary. |
| JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, HEIC or HEIF image | Lets you choose a bird and add it to its photos or also use it as the profile photo. |
On Android the app opens directly. On iPhone/iPad, Open with hands the file to the app; from Share, the extension prepares a private copy and asks you to open Mis Plumas to continue. This works whether the app was closed or already open. If several files arrive, they are handled one at a time so that one confirmation cannot overwrite the next.
Detection uses the actual contents, not only the extension or the type reported by another app. A file that is not a compatible backup, export or image shows a warning and does not change any data. Restores and imports that replace data keep the same checks and confirmations as their usual screens.
PDF exports
You can generate PDFs for:
- the bird inventory;
- pairs;
- the breeding report of a season, a cage or a pair (one page per pair, sorted by cage; from Pairs, the pair's sheet, Breeding seasons and the cage's sheet);
- a bird's health history;
- the light plan;
- the aviary statistics summary.
PDFs are designed for printing, archiving or sharing with vets, associations or buyers.
All these PDFs open first in a full-screen preview. You can review them there and, without having to save them first, share, print or save them from the preview itself.
You can zoom each page with two fingers or a double tap. When you generate View PDF sheet you choose no photos, the profile photo or all of them; the date of birth is included if it is recorded, also in the genealogy PDF.
PDF and HTML exports from the main modules keep the Mis Plumas design, with the aviary logo and watermark when you have set up the breeder profile.
Printable QR sheets
From the Birds, Pairs and Cages lists you can create a PDF sheet with several QR codes.
The selection starts from what you are seeing in the list, so filters and sorting are respected. Before generating the file you can untick items, select all, clear the selection and choose how many columns the sheet will have.
Each QR keeps the style configured in Settings → Appearance → QR style.
Aviary summary in CSV, HTML or PDF
From Home → Aviary summary you can export all aviary statistics:
- CSV: recommended if you want to open the data in a spreadsheet.
- HTML: useful for viewing or sharing a visual version in the browser.
- PDF: designed for printing, archiving or sending as a closed report.
Full aviary in CSV or Excel
From Settings → Backup, in the Aviary CSV/Excel section, you can export all the aviary data in spreadsheet format:
- Export aviary (CSV): creates a ZIP with the tables as CSV files, editable in Excel or any spreadsheet app.
- Export aviary (Excel): creates a single
.xlsxfile with all the tables.
This package also includes the Inventory: products and all their purchases travel together with birds, pairs, clutches and the rest of the data, and are recovered when you import the file. Since 6.4.0 it also carries the Feeding plans and their phase calendar; if you import an older package, the ones you have stay as they are.
The corresponding import (Import aviary (CSV/Excel)) replaces the aviary data with the data in the file, so it is a good idea to make a full backup first. The package does not contain the private breeder address book or the photo and document files: it is not a substitute for a full ZIP backup. With the cloud active, the import leaves the same sync decision pending as a restore.
If you edit the files by hand, dates may be written as YYYY-MM-DD or DD/MM/YYYY, and states by their name (for example, fecundado). If a cell cannot be read, the import stops before changing anything and tells you which sheet, row and column it is in.
The importer expects the Mis Plumas format: it does not automatically convert any Excel file or PDF from another app. If you need to bring over a notebook or another format, keep the original and ask through Contact how to prepare the data.
Export for AI (JSON)
In Settings → Backup you will find Export for AI (JSON). It creates a single .json file with your aviary data, designed to be used with an artificial intelligence tool (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or another) so you can ask it questions about your birds.
Unlike the aviary CSV/Excel (a technical dump meant for re-importing), this JSON is prepared so that the AI can understand it:
- It explains itself: it includes a guide that describes each section and a suggested prompt you can copy and paste before the file.
- Relationships resolved: the father, the mother or the cage already appear with their ring or number, not with internal codes.
- In the app language: the texts, the guide and the prompt are generated in the language you have set.
Before generating it you can choose what to include (breeding, genetics, health, show record, finances, inventory and notes). Because the file contains your data, the app reminds you that uploading it to a third-party AI means sharing that information with its provider. Photos and documents are not included, only their count.
Tip: it is a quick way to ask an AI for pairing ideas that avoid inbreeding, a review of the health status or a summary of breeding results, making the most of all the data you already have in Mis Plumas.
Bird import/export
From a bird's record you can Export / Share bird. Before creating the file, choose what to include: full or basic record, status, health, genealogy as a note, photos and documents.
A bird export is shared as a ZIP even when it has no photos or documents, so the format is always compatible. The basic record leaves the cage unassigned when imported and avoids carrying over details that only made sense in the source aviary.
The recipient can import the file from the bird list. The Import bird button lets you choose between ZIP and CSV. Before loading it, the app shows a confirmation with the main details to avoid importing by mistake.
Light plan CSV
The Light plan can be exported and imported as CSV. It is useful for reviewing phases outside the app or copying a plan between devices.
Before importing, the app validates dates, hours and the file structure. If it finds errors, it does not load the plan until the data is correct.
The Light plan can also generate a visual PDF to print or share the phase calendar.
Feeding plans
Feeding plans are exported as PDF, CSV or HTML with Export: from What's in it, one plan, including an earlier version as it was; or from the Plans section of the tab, all of them except the archived ones. With Include previous versions, each plan also carries what it contained before each change. Each plan comes with what it contains and who and when, with the names of its cages, pairs and birds, and who it reaches today, cage by cage. It is an export for reading or printing: it cannot be imported back.
Incubator and Inventory
Inventory is included in the Export aviary (CSV) and Export aviary (Excel) exports: products and their purchases travel inside the package together with the rest of the tables and are recovered when you import it.
The Incubator module is not exported as a separate file. Its data is part of the database and is protected inside full backups, so it is recovered when you restore a backup.
Incubator statistics are checked from each machine's detail, and the general aviary summary can be exported from Home in CSV, HTML or PDF.
Recommendations
- Make a backup before restoring or importing important data.
- Use PDF when you want to present information.
- Use CSV for tabular data such as the light plan.
- Use the QR sheet when you want to print labels for several birds, pairs or cages in one go.
- Keep a local backup somewhere other than your phone if your aviary has critical information.