Del Richards wrote:
On 10th August 2001 an immature Parrot finch died after hitting a
plate glass window locally. In due course it was forwarded to Canberra
for DNA testing in order to determine that if it was a different race to
those present in the Pacific and PNG area. As is our typical experience
we received no feed back on the results of our initiative and effort.
However my point is anybody with experince with avairy birds able to
point out at what age this species attains full adult plumage?
They are generally considered fully coloured at around 12 months,
although by 6 to 8 months it is usually possible to begin to
differentiate between sexes - especially from the same clutch.
Interestingly, it is not that unusual for them to begin breeding before
they are fully coloured.
It is a pity that nothing came of the hoped for DNA testing -
aviculturalists have long claimed that the variety kept in Australian
aviaries is not the Australian subspecies but one from the Pacific
islands. This is based on the aviary Blue-face Parrot finches being
noticeably brighter in their body colour than the wild Australian ones.
Also it would be remarkably difficult to set out to trap the Australian
birds in significant numbers, and so it is hard to see how Australian
birds could have accounted for the large numbers kept in aviculture.
Much more likely that the aviary birds have bred from significant
numbers imported 50 years or more ago, when importation of such birds
was legal and uncontrolled.
DNA work would possibly help to settle the argument.
cheers,
Mike
Sunshine Coast
Qld
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