Hello all,
Re- the point raised by Mike Owen.
As I pointed out I'm no expert finch breeder. However, all the
aviculturalists that I've talked to over the last few years that couldn't
breed Diamond Firetails were feeding large quantities of live food. My
thought was that they might have been feeding too much and the birds getting
obese! One that particularly comes to mind, had a quite spectacular aviary
setup that was funded from a workers compensation payout. He was producing
vast quantities of foreign birds like Singing Sparrows, bulbuls, siskins,
whydahs etc. I remember working out that he had about 200,000 dollars worth
of birds in his aviaries, half of which were about to be sold. I remember
him being concerned about getting caught on his tax. He was making an easy
living out of it. He used to have air-conditioned rooms for breeding all
manner of mealworms and crickets etc. for feeding to his birds.
But, the one thing that really grated on him was that he couldn't breed
Diamond Firetails. He said he just kept on buying more and more without
success. I've since found out that he has been convicted for catching
Diamond Firetails for his aviaries from nearby. This must have been one of
the few remaining pockets of Dimeys in the Hunter. He obviously wasn't
catching them for financial gain- it was just a matter of pride to him I
think. He couldn't work out why he couldn't do it so he tried a different
technique. Unfortunately, as was pointed by Dion Hobcroft, even small scale
trapping can have a local impact, particularly when populations are already
fragmented and numbers already low.
Another point of interest with regards to the diet of aviary finches versus
wild finches. I have heard conflicting stories from different
aviculturalists about what you must feed your birds to have success. One
will say livefood, one will say no livefood. I strongly suspect that many of
the birds that have been in captivity for a number of generations begin to
lose their wild habits and become domesticated- adjusted to the conditions
under which they and their parents have been raised. Thus the range of
stories. I have had a number of people say to me that Star Finches eat lots
of insects (livefood) when they are breeding. I know from firsthand
experience that wild stars eat insects very rarely and certainly do not
adjust their diets towards insects while rearing young.
I agree totally with the points raised by Dion about the release of
information. In the end it is a judgment call, and except for a handful of
cases there is little harm that can be done.
Cheers,
Mick Todd
Michael Todd
Finch Researcher
Tropical Savannas CRC
c/o Stephen Garnett,
EPA, PO Box 2066, Cairns, Qld, 4870
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