Thieves who stole 34 rare birds from a man on the NSW south coast were likely to have been rival collectors.

The thieves broke into Errol Wilson's Nowra property on Saturday night, targeting only rare and expensive birds carefully bred for their vivid colours and genetics.
Mr Wilson has since offered an $80,000 reward for their return.
He has put 53 years worth of painstaking work into the collection and is devastated by the loss.

"I've still got the shakes a bit, even now my voice is still not strong," he said.

Mr Wilson describes all the stolen birds as family members, but he does have a favourite — the princess parrot, bought just six weeks ago for $22,000.

The cinnamon species Princess Parrot was the pride of his collection and its loss prompted him to offer the reward for the return of the parrots.

"The birds mean more to me than the money," he said.

The 65-year-old said he was simply too old to start again, and was willing to lose his life savings to get his parrots back.

"I think what (they've) done is not the true Aussie spirit and I want them back," he said.

Reward offered for return of rare birds