Aussie Finch Forum

Welcome to the forum Ross. Look forward to the pic of the avairy. Any chance of one of the white Goshawk too?
LML

Odd. I posted a reply yesterday, but it hasn’t appeared, so I’ll just say thank you finchbreeder, but I can’t get a picture of the goshawk, just too damn flighty. Magnificent thing, but a true fugitive.

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finchbreeder wrote: ↑01 Jul 2018, 13:27 Welcome to the forum Ross. Look forward to the pic of the avairy. Any chance of one of the white Goshawk too?
LML

Here is a pic of a white Goshawk that was harassing my birds

Absolutely stunning ! What I'd give to have that for Falconry ( not that I know anything about it !) but what a magnificent bird !

Sure is a good looking bird. To be exact it is a white morph of Grey Goshawk according to Pizzey and Knight's Field Guide to the Birds of Australia (Accipiter novaehollandiae) According to them they are "uncommon to rare". Great photo.

What a great pic Storz.

I was once a falconer. As a 14 to 16 year old I was utterly besotted with the craft. Had an immature male brown goshawk that gained its freedom promptly after training, I was not too upset about that - they have a justifiably notorious disposition and a female Australian hobby that was the sweetest most beautiful thing imaginable. This was a long time ago when you kinda could get away with walking the streets with a bird on your fist. Would dearly love to do it again, but the penalties are harsh.

Most every other civilised and uncivilised country has managed to negotiate a way to accomodate this truly magnificent partnership between man and beast, sadly not here in Oz where the local neighbourhood falconer could be used to harmlessly keep marauding cockies at bay when the fruit/nut season kicks in. David Holmgren (co-founder of Permaculture) once spoke persuasively about this. Bloke down the road has a permit to cull the cockatoos which is something he joyfully embraces. I loathe the man.

Beautiful bird. Yes trained birds of prey to harrass the cockies away from certain areas would be much more civilised than shooting them. Neither is totally pleasant for the cockies, but at least one is not fatal.
LML

I live in Caboolture (Qld) and was having a lot of problems with butcher birds and "mickeys",native myna birds.My aviaries are some distance from the house,but I could still see them pestering my finches.Although I have a 1/2 metre walkway,the butcher birds couldn't reach the finches.So I started feeding the butcher birds and magpies and mickeys at the house with mince.Now I don't have a problem with these intruders at all.They actually come into the kitchen to be fed twice a day and have become quite tame that a couple of butcher birds sit on my shoulder to be fed.They love to catch the morsels in mid-air when I toss them.It has become a game for them.The mince is cheap compared to the peace I get.I never have a problem any more,so it's worth a try.

My aviaries are some distance from the house,but I could still see them pestering my finches.
How far is some distance? Not everyone has a large block. But go with what works for you. And Welcome to the forum.
LML