Aussie Finch Forum

Bob Barnes spoke on “Breeding and Maintaining the Red-crested finch and the Rufus-backed Mannikins (Lonchura nigriceps)”

Bob is a man with a wealth of knowledge and this soon became obvious to those who attended. Most of what he spoke about was from his personal experiences gained from decades of keeping a range of birds, accompanied with a lot of in-depth reading of old bird books. Bob provided a thorough and detailed rundown of both species, being very honest about the difficulties he has personally encountered and how he has endeavoured to overcome them. This was very refreshing as audience members attending finch presentations often say they only hear the triumphs and glory, then spend a lot of time wondering why it isn’t working for them.

Bob also expressed his concern about the number of finch species aviculture has lost in Australia and articulated a keenness to help preserve as many of the remaining species that he feels need urgent attention. Bob then followed up by answering a range of questions asked by the audience, providing honest and in-depth answers. Personally I found this presentation very informative and thought provoking. I feel I have got so much enjoyment from breeding finches throughout my life, that it is time for me to also give something back to one of the struggling species. A species that I feel is within my budget, skills, ability and available time. As my personal experience is within the genus Lonchura, I am going to start looking very closely at what species or sub-species needs urgent help. Not for personal gain but it is the wright thing to do, to leave something for those finch breeders that follow in years to come. Just like you and I wish others had done for us.

Bob Barnes has inspired me to be part of a finch rescue mission. What about you… Is there anything you can do to help a struggling finch species? Talk to your bird club or fellow breeders with an interest in similar species.

Thanks Lonchura for the review . Would have liked to have been there.

thanks Lonchura that was very interesting

This topic has been raised on the forum and lots of ideas have been put forward, but as always Blainey's "Tyranny of Distance" and the dollar factor are main the stumbling blocks.
Im so glad this had been raised again.

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Many breeders at the level of Bob Barnes realise that there is a major crisis happening with numerous species we keep.
That is why they get involved with lectures and in our case the interviews that Jayburd has done and our editor putting them in our IT newsletter
Most forum members would be most surprised at the actual names behind some of the forum names.
We are fortunate that we have access to these people who give advice freely and that is also why our forum is progressing nicely

That’s why I have joined this forum!
The wealth of knowledge and experience available to anyone if interested is incredible. It's free, quick and personalised to your particular requirements.

Yes this finch forum will fix eney problems or answer eney question you have about finches

Nathan as much as all of us here at the forum would like to 'fix eney problem' it just isn't possible.
All any of us are able to do is offer advice and guidance.

Its really up to us to fix our own problems Nathan . The forum offers advice and opinions which we utilise to suit our situation best .

Good advice I must say too ....

Now can you please write 100 times any , yes any isn't eney its any OK

Great review Lonchura.

It's great when you hear someone speak who inspires you.

As a speaker, if even just one person gets something from your presentation then it's been worthwhile.

If you manage to inspire someone, then that's a real bonus. Congratulations to Bob on a job well done.

As a listener, there is always something you can get from a presentation. We all see things slightly differently and it sometimes takes someone else's perspective to make us reassess how and why we do things. As others have said, there's something wrong if you're not constantly learning things,especially in this hobby!!!