3rd National Finch Census Resultd

[Finches2011]

All,
The full results and analysis for the 3rd National Finch and Softbill Census is now available on the NFSA (National Finch and Softbill Association) website- www.nationalfinch.com
If your club is an NFSA member then your club also has the results and should provide them to all their members. These results are Important information for all finch enthusiasts.
Gary Fitt

[bob21358]

Thanks Gary and team for all your effort.

It all makes for an interesting read, but wonder why such a relatively low response rate (410 responses). I know this is trending upwards from previous years but does seem rather low.

Or are only "large" breeders responding. The census reveals an average of 100 - 110 birds per respondee. Maybe more "smaller" breeders need to be encouraged to respond.

[Pictorella]

I hope most of the Melba breeders didn't respond to the survey or otherwise their low numbers must be of concern.

[matcho]

I replied and believe me I am "Small". I looked at some of the figures and I reckon I saw 5% of the Javas at the Orange sale. I have seen 5 to 10% at times of Saints at my local produce store according to the figures. I understand why some will not declare what they have because of rarity/price etc, etc. I reckon the census should target those species that are really in decline, especially exotics, ( Peters twinspots for example). Surely they are not the only 6 birds of this species in Oz? I agree the response was poor considering that in the opening it states that there are approx 9000 significant finch keepers/breeders. I am not significant, trust me. Why all the secrecy? After all it was anonymous.

Just a question, did all or a significant number of members of the NSFA and affiliated clubs nation wide submit figures? I would suggest not. 410 replies for over 41,000 birds? Works out to be a little over 100 birds per respondent. Give me a break. I am a nobody and I submitted as did a few members on this forum who are enthusiasts/hobby keepers. I had a good season, over 80 in all the season before last, less than 10 last season. I have nothing of note, stars goulds and painteds and I luv em. Why all the secrecy?

By my way of thinking looking at some of the species named as being here from only 410 submissions there are a lot more out there than stated or declared.

Ken.

[Craig52]

The problem is,the NFSA relies on information from bird clubs/societies.There are hundreds of breeders out there that aren't members of either and don't associate with anyone other than the Authorities for returns,if their birds are under licence.Let's face it,there a number of birds that are not on licence and anybody can keep them including all the foreign finches.
Imo,you are never going to know precisely how many of a specie is in Australia from the ordinary finch keeper,they keep to themselves,they breed their birds and sell them to dealers/pet shops or find out when the birds sales are on in their areas.If you have a computer these sales are displayed and dated every year so you don't need to be a member of any club.
As a member of the NSFA,i think we are barking up the wrong tree,rather than rely on breeders that are in the know of the census a count of all species finches/softbills at all bird sales across the country as well as voluntary anonymous would probably come to a closer figure if the the seller was asked whether he/she submitted an anonymous figure to the census.Just my thoughts. Craig

[Finches2011]

Thanks all. A number of good points there.
Yes we are always disappointed about the poor response. We advertise the census across all the clubs we can, and through major magazines. As an example the Qld Finch Society has almost 1000 members but we struggle to get 100 responses from them! I don't understand why. Despite this we believe the relative numbers across species are valid and useful.

With regard to the question about whether only large breeders respond, the answer is no. Although the average number of birds held by respondents came out at 100-110 this is distorted by a very long tail of large breeders. The range of birds held was very broad - from 2 birds to 1799 birds. In fact the modal number held was between 40 and 50 birds. I have now produced a frequency distribution of the responses which shows most people have 130 birds or less, but with a long tail of larger keepers. The Frequency Distribution is now on the NFSA website.

The suggestion that we also gather numbers of birds presented at sales is a good one, but we need someone to volunteer at each sale to gather such data. I also doubt that many of the rarer species ever get near a bird sale. The main thing we need is for all serious finch breeders to publicise the next census and encourage their friends to participate.