Blue Headed Cordon Bleu – (Uraeginthus cyanocephala) If you have ever seen the blue cap male in his courting dance and noticed the way he fans out his feathers at the front of his forehead forming a type of cap, you will understand why he is called the blue cap. Blue caps are an African [...]

Now is the time to get ready to act in the garden. Time to sow the grasses that will get you into the early summer. Again, sow seed in trays for an early start. I always find that a seedling 75-100 mm high sown into the garden bed will always get ahead of the weeds [...]

These notes are for the area i live in which is classed as a subtropical climate and obviously things that grow here may not grow at the same time in other colder or warmer areas, but try it anyway. Winter is the worst time for finches as they are very tender at this time of [...]

In Australia, the Pytilia family of finches are popular members of many collections. Most finch breeders confidently talk about Melbas, (green winged Pytilias), Auroras (Red Winged Pytilias), the Yellow Winged Pytilias, which have yellow wings and a red head, but seem to struggle on the details when it comes to the black sheep of the [...]

Star Finch (neochmia ruficadua) Found across Northern Australia from the Pilbara, Western Australia to Cape York. The Star Finch species is well established in Australian aviculture. Although there are probably several sub-species of this finch, the birds we keep are probably a mixture of some from the west and some from the east. These birds [...]

I got a question via email the other day: Hello. I am enquiring about purchasing some gouldian finches but have been informed that it is too cold to keep/breed them in an outdoor aviary in Sydney. I would appreciate your opinion. Thank you. My first thought was to say try it and see. But this [...]

Of all the birds I keep I do not colony breed. With the exception of two pair of Gouldians per flight everything else is bred in single pairs. This is not to say colonies don’t work, it is saying it is not necessary. The example is that if you have five pairs of a particular [...]

When brushing an aviary the brush can be attached in may different ways and usually every bird breeder has their own way of doing this. I use a variety of methods, the first of which I will describe below: The Poly Pipe Fastening Method: To use the brush in this way you need the following [...]

I received this email from a user of this website, and I thought it would be a great idea for a quick post. Here is the email: I’ve been into breeding finches before but have always had timber built aviaries with the old asbestos roofing. I don’t want to use these materials again therefore I [...]

I have kept finches for over 30 years but seriously since 1984 when I moved to Broken Head, NSW.I am a finch breeder and that’s all I keep. I always try to improve whatever species I choose to breed because this is what I believe all true bird breeders should aspire to do. The following [...]