Crimson Finch Recovery.

Crimson Finch Recovery around Cairns –    the first ten years by John Davies-Griffith In February 2000 I was approached by Ergon Energy scheduler Steve Warren to have a look at three power poles in the Aloomba District south of Cairns that had been marked for replacement. They had signs of fresh nests that had been made in rot holes in the poles and they…

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Latest Gouldian funding.

Naturally for Birds donates all profits to Save the Gouldian Fund to support research and on-ground actions to help conserve wild populations of the endangered Gouldian Finch. In this article we provide some information on the one of the research projects currently being supported. AN UPDATE ON THE BIGGEST CURRENT INVESTMENT FOR SAVE THE GOULDIAN FUND    Gary Fitt, Brisbane (March 2019) We are now…

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Finch Movements.

Naturally for Birds donates all profits to the Save the Gouldian Fund to support research and on-ground actions to help conserve wild populations of the endangered Gouldian Finch. In this series of articles we provide some information on the research projects being supported. Finch Movements – how far do Kimberley finches move? December 2019 Save the Gouldian Fund’s biggest current investment is with Charles Darwin…

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STGF Gouldian Finch Count – Results for 2019

Naturally for Birds donates all profits to the Save the Gouldian Fund to support research and on-ground actions to help conserve wild populations of the endangered Gouldian Finch. In this series of articles we provide some information on the research projects being supported and other STGF activities such as the annual Gouldian Count described here. Results of the Save the Gouldian Fund Gouldian Count 2019…

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Keep your sub-species pure.

it’s vital that sub-species of our native and foreign finches are maintained. Gary Fitt (Brisbane) on behalf of the NFSA  At a recent (Nov 2018) NFSA Committee meeting we discussed the important issue of keeping subspecies of our finches and softbills separate in our aviaries to ensure we don’t contaminate one subspecies with another. This was prompted in part by The National Finch and Softbill Association provides a national…

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Interesting Data.

  Gouldian Seed Choice Experiment Results 30-40% Red Panicum – Panicum millaceum 10-20% Millets (e.g. White, Japanese) – Setaria italica + Echinochia esculenta 10-20% Canary seed – Phalaris canariensis 10% Rye – Lolium multiflorum 5-10% Phalaris – Phalaris aquatica 5-10% Silk Sorghum – Sorghum vulgare 5% Signal grass – Brachiaria brizantha 5% Niger – Guizotia abyssinica Wild Gouldian Seasonal Seed Diet March through to the…

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Diet & Finch Health.

  • Published in Science

Diet and finch health, reproduction and survival. Dr Sarah Pryke Aim:This extensive work was done to determine whether the supplements and diets we were feeding at Save The Gouldian Finch research facility improved finch health, reproduction and survival – and if so, how and by what magnitude?                                     …

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Breed & Release

This is highly desirable, but in the ‘cold hard light of dawn’, how realistic is this belief? Breed and Release programmes were popularised and well publicised during the nineties by Gerald Durrell of Jersey Zoo and Sir Peter Scott with the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust and continues to be promoted by many zoos as it fits their corporate profile of education and conservation. Despite its…

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Scientifically Formulated Supplements For Cagebirds

BACKGROUND Dr Sarah Pryke (at the Australian National University) and the Save the Gouldian Fund (STGF) team of scientists has been working on the ecology, behaviour, physiology and nutritional requirements of a range of finches. Part of this work has been researching the wild diets of finches at different stages of the year. Using both the wild and captive research, a range of supplements has…

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Simple Genetics

The sex chromosomes in birds are Z and W – not X & Y as in mammals. The male birds have two Z and Z sex chromosomes, and females have a Z and a W. Male birds make sperm which always have a Z chromosome. Female birds make gametes which can have either a Z or a W chromosome Male offspring get a Z chromosome…

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