By John Grant IntroductionThe Superb Parrot (alternative name Barraband Parrot) is one of three members of the Polytelis genus of Australian parrots. The word Polytelis roughly translated into English means ‘magnificent’, which I feel is an apt description. There are two other members of this genus, the Princess Parrot and...
MEALWORMS
By Tony MELBOURNE Although we call them a ‘worm’, mealworms are actually the larvae stage of the Tenebrio molitor beetle. Most of us either breed or purchase these little fellows to feed to a variety of finches, softbills and some parrots. They also provide the most asked questions at General...
LOOKING BACK WITH SOME REGRETS
By Graham BURFORD A recent article ‘Conservation Corner’ in the Bird Keeping in Australia magazine mentioned some of our species of finches that are of ‘conservation concern’, and prompted me to consider some of the birds that I have kept, and what had happened to them. To help with this...
THE CORDON BLEU FINCH
Among the more popular of foreign finches the Cordon Bleu has in many years been the choice of many fanciers, and during that period has been bred to a great extent under varying conditions, some in large planted flight aviaries, and others in smaller box type cages. Of these it...
Mineral Blocks : Good for birds and relatively simple to make.
By Society Member, Martin HILTON of WHYALLA. I have used mineral blocks for many years – as well as being good for birds’ health, they provide them with something to relieve boredom and it is surprising how quickly small finches can go through them.I once gave some blocks to someone...
Breeding the Gouldian On the Adelaide Plains
By Bert Polgreen Introduction If managed correctly, the Gouldian finch can be long lived and a free breeder in Adelaide aviaries. This article outlines the methods I have used successfully over many years. Housing For Gouldian finches I prefer an aviary about 4 metres long by 1¼ metres wide and...