The National Finch and Softbill Association has asked me to be a correspondent between the AFF and the NFSA. So from time to time I'll be posting bits and pieces they send though to me.
With that in mind, this is just a reminder about the NFSA Finch and Softbill census for 2013, that if you haven't already participated, it might be something you'd like to do.
Some info on the census from the Association:
On two occasions in the past (2008 and 2010), the NFSA has conducted a census of finch and softbill numbers held by the members of NFSA affiliated clubs or by any finch or softbill keeper who would like to participate.
After each census the NFSA produces a comprehensive analysis of the overall numbers and trends across the country and then publishes a report. The 2010 census included over 36,000 birds and gave us some good indications of the most popular species and the species in trouble – those which were held in very low numbers or by only a handful of breeders. These past census results have helped to identify species which need conservation efforts in aviculture.
So NFSA is now conducting its next census (from August 2013 to January 2014) with results to be presented at the Finches’14 Convention in June 2014 where it will no doubt produce lots of discussion. The results will be made available to all NFSA Member clubs and published in major avicultural magazines.
The census is totally anonymous, they aren't interested in names or addresses (although if you're doing it, if you could provide the state you're in that'd be great). Just record the numbers of each species that you hold and send in your results
How to participate:
You can download a census form from the NFSA website (http://www.nationalfinch.com/) or from the QFS website (http://www.qfs.org.au). Just fill it in and post it off. Or, you can complete the Census on-line through SurveyMonkey. (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NFSAcensus2013). Please complete only one type of census.
The census won’t reach every finch and softbill breeder and some people may actively avoid the census - that's fine. Provided we get enough people to respond, the census will provide a valuable picture of the relative numbers of species and how many people keep them. This will provide further information on which species are rare or becoming rarer and need some help.
So if you have a couple of minutes, fill one out and send it off!
I'm just doing mine now!Thanks
J
Note - I've just noticed as I'm filling mine in on Surveymonkey, in the foreign finch section, There's no entry for Jacarini. However, there is an entry for 'macaroni', and seeing as my phone sometimes autocorrects 'jacarini' to 'macaroni', that's what I'm filling it out as
