Oveseas perceptions of Aussie Aviculture

[jusdeb]

hang on ...moving my post from the other thingy to here ...dont hold your breaths waiting though may take a while ...

Food for thought ...and good timing since Ive been contemplating concentrating on just 1 species of finch .
So what about some guidelines on how one would go about this little venture ?
Say how many pair to start of with ?
What breeds are more suited to the average bird keeper ?
Where would one source these birds and how would one know what a reasonable price would be ?
I think it would be a lot easier if readers had some ideas on how to go about it all with as little failure as possible ,after all the less common birds are going to be a more expensive and $$$$ dont grow on trees .
Also housing ie . 1 huge aviary or several smaller .

Hope to see this post continued as it is very interesting and may inspire some of us to take up the challenge of breeding vulnerable birds for the greater good.

[avishoot]

some time ago red faced pytilias became available to australian aviculture in numbers and at a price which allowed more people to acquire them . at the time a pair of auroras fetched $19 a pair at the dealers . i happened to mention this price to another breeder who travels to various sales and he told me that no auroras had been seen at sales for while and if i was going to gunnedah i should put $80 a pair on them . i thought this may be a little steep so i went with $60 a pair . i sold 6 pairs in the first 5 minutes and could have sold them many times over. it became apparent that over a very short period of time that a real decline in the availability of auroras had occurred. it would appear that many experienced breeders now keeping red faced pytilias had sold off their auroras to remove any conjecture regarding crossbreeding or simply that they only had room for the new variety . my point here is that the decline in the availability of a species can occur irrelevant of their cost and perceived status . i kept auroras at $19 a pair because i like them , i still keep auroras because i like them. so don,t get caught up too much on price as an indicator of availability because whilst we are looking the other way we are losing some species that ,not too long ago , were readily available . so pick something you like and stick with it.

[Jayburd]

completely agree
Yes I've always liked auroras, but I have to admit I am one of the people who is more smitten with red faced pytilias...
We don't get many Auroras down this way, if we did they would be expensive... Often we get some RFP's at around 200-250 a pair.

[GregH]

I'm feeling hypcritical and lazy reading this post as I'm guilty of letting impact influence my purchases. Three years agao when I got back into finches a regularly say African silver-bills at one particular shop in Manila but at P4000($150)/pr com pared to Goulds (P3000), Stars (P2000), Hecks (P3000) Double bars (P4000) and Zebs (P400) I let them pass into oblivian. Luckily I did see cut-throats (P2000) and am one of the few breeders left and now they sell at twice the price. I regret letting that happen now and when I see the list that Dano produced I hope other capable breeders don't make the same mistake. Pytilas are a great bird and I recon I could breed them but I don't expect they will appear in the Philippines and I'd be stupid exporting anything endangered from Australia even if the Aussie "authorities" would like them all removed.

[jusdeb]

Totally agree avishoot , I only keep birds that I like . Ive sold of a lot of my finches as I just cant get into them the way I do with the parrots , love them but feel that 1 specie that I really like will be more rewarding .
Having said that I have just had an offer for my yellow emblemas and for the life of me I cant part with them , these little fellas will always be a part of my bird collection I think.

[lestra]

Has anything happened with this?
I like the idea about the airline maybe Jetstar or Virgin could sponsor the co-op.
As I said in the other thread on this subject, we haven't started work on our yard/aviary area yet so I can adjust the plans to include a aviary for this project. Though as I am only just getting back into finches after a 16yr break I am not confident in my skills as yet, but would love to help.
How can I help? If I know what breed to cater for I can put it into my plans so that the aviary is there ready to go.

[GregH]

Isn't the endangered Black-throated finch endemic to your area? It's a bit bossy in the aviary and may stop you having other species but that's one species to consider and it doesn't require anything too special.

[finchbreeder]

There are "mini co-op's" in various areas around the country. They are basicly formed by 2-10 like minded people deciding to work on preserving a specific finch and collecting as many as they can get/house between them. This group will then breed the type of finch and swap young between them to preserve the birds. In time they will build up to a sufficent quantity to begin selling them to others. Sometimes it's as simple as a decision between to mates, sometimes as organasied as a decision by a local Avicultural Society. So if you know a more experienced Aviculturalist who can be your mentor, that is one way. Or join your local Aviculutal/bird club/society if there is one near by.
LML

[lestra]

The Black Throated Finch isn't from my area. I am about a 13hr drive from its area in Qld - Big State.
I wonder if there is a co-op near me and what they are breeding. May have to start a thread

[finchbreeder]

The bird does not have to be from your area. Just obtainable, and licenceable.
LML