# My newest acquisition!



## Secundino (Dec 1, 2017)

Little owl finch!







Sorry, too big. I'll try to fix it.
Done.


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## cnycharles (Dec 1, 2017)

Neat


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Erythrone (Dec 1, 2017)

Lovely!!!! Do you plan to breed them?


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## abax (Dec 1, 2017)

Beautiful birds and finches are usually quite "talkative"
and active.


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## Ray (Dec 2, 2017)

This is MY newest acquisition:


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## Linus_Cello (Dec 2, 2017)

Ray said:


> This is MY newest acquisition:



A new brunette?


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## Ray (Dec 2, 2017)

Haha!

Nope, same one. Our mortgage lien woes ended and we got our escrow money back exactly 45 years to the day that we met on a blind date...hence the boat name.


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## abax (Dec 2, 2017)

Very nice boat. Enjoy the hell out of it!


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## chris20 (Dec 2, 2017)

Enjoy.


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## Don I (Dec 2, 2017)

Beautiful little birds and a nice boat.
Don


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## John M (Dec 2, 2017)

I love finches. Congratulations! I like that you put fresh greenery into the cage with them. It must make them feel better and it shows them off nicely, too.


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## Ozpaph (Dec 3, 2017)

you are both very fortunate. Enjoy!


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## Secundino (Dec 3, 2017)

Erythrone said:


> Lovely!!!! Do you plan to breed them?



I'd like to. But first I've to make sure they are no siblings. Serial numbers are 46 and 48 from the same breeder - they just arrived from Italy - so the odds are high they are. 
They are young, one has begun to sing and to try a courtship dance, so tis one is a male. The other one seems rather unimpressed and I think it's still very young. 
They don't get a nesting place nor nest-cage nor greenies as food, so I hope they don't get into breeding mood to soon.


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## emydura (Dec 3, 2017)

One of my favourite Australian birds and my favourite finch. They are so damn cute. I don't need to keep them in aviaries as I can just walk down to the creek and see them flying around. I love the call they make. They sound like a childs toy. They are more commonly known as Double-Barred Finches here in Australia although Owl Finch is another name.

I use to keep them in an aviary when I was a kid. They are easy enough to keep although I was never able to breed them like I could other Australian finches. They are not easy to sex. Good to see you can get them in Europe. Are they expensive to buy? They should be able to tolerate the cold more than a lot of Australian finches as it gets well below freezing here although there is a second subspecies that is found in a much warmer climate. 

Here is a photo I took of some wild Double-barred finches trying to keep warm on a cold frosty winters morning.These birds were close to where I live.


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## Secundino (Dec 3, 2017)

Oh so lovely photographs ! Good to see - my birds still have a clear, colourless/greyish beak, and rosy legs and toes, with little dark or blueish. They are obviously young.

They are not very expensive (25 - 30 € each bird), but where I live they are not easy to get. Colourful gouldians or parrot finches are easier. On the mainland this is no problem. In Italy just ended a big ornithological fair at Emilia Romagna, my birds are from there.

Though I 'decorated' the cage/aviary with twigs and leaves from australian species (eucalyptus, casuarina, etc.) the birds obviously don't care. They seem to come from a breeding module without any natural interior. They had to adapt to the branches and twigs (they prefer the ones with quite small diameter - not the big perches), have learned to fly right now, took four days to touch the bottom - grasses, soil, etc. and still did not bath, but recognized the white plastic drinking dispenser at once! The fresh millet sprays are untouched - they don't recognize them as food. 

But I am happy that the begun to drink and eat immediately, they love germinated seeds and begin to behave as birds with some space should. They interact in a lovely way, tweeting and meowing and yes, the male singing is like a child’s machine gun! At least it should be, for my male _bichenov_ still tries hard and all he can is a confused but very pleasing murmuring.


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## John M (Dec 3, 2017)

Gosh, they're really cute! I recently got some Gouldians and a pair of Java Rice Finches. I used to breed Zebra Finches and Gouldians many years ago. I haven't had any small Finches over the past 14 years and I have really missed them. I finally took the plunge and got some fine birds to set up for breeding this winter. 

Those Owl Finch photos show some incredibly cute birds. Hard to imagine, David, that you get to just go for a walk outside to see these guys!


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## Ozpaph (Dec 4, 2017)

superb photos, David.
Did you use flash?


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## NYEric (Dec 4, 2017)

Cool, J.P. Faust grows finches also. Date trees also!?


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## Secundino (Dec 5, 2017)

Does he than? oke: 
If, which of the books would you recommend (if I am able to get one over here at all)? Didn't find any translations in a quick search.


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## emydura (Dec 6, 2017)

Secundino said:


> They are not very expensive (25 - 30 € each bird), but where I live they are not easy to get..



They are not much cheaper here. Is yours the white-rumped or black rumped form?




John M said:


> Gosh, they're really cute! I recently got some Gouldians and a pair of Java Rice Finches. I used to breed Zebra Finches and Gouldians many years ago. I haven't had any small Finches over the past 14 years and I have really missed them. I finally took the plunge and got some fine birds to set up for breeding this winter.
> s!



John - do you keep your Gouldians inside during winter? Your climate is pretty cold.

The guy I sit next to at work recently came back from the Northern Territory where he saw some wild Gouldian Finches. There are not a lot of them left unfortunately.



Ozpaph said:


> superb photos, David.
> Did you use flash?



No, I didn't use any flash Stephen. Just some early morning sunlight. I was able to get quite close to these birds which is unusual as they are a bit shy. I was chasing them without luck so I decided to just sit there and wait for them to come to me. It worked well and before long they were perching within a couple of metres almost oblivious to my existence.


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## Secundino (Dec 6, 2017)

emydura said:


> Is yours the white-rumped or black rumped form?



The white rumped form_ (Taeniopygia bichenovii bichenovii)
_ or at least it looks like it. As white rumped is dominant, it might be as well a intermediate. I've never seen a black rumped here.


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## tomkalina (Dec 6, 2017)

Now to catch some fish........


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## Ozpaph (Dec 6, 2017)

tomkalina said:


> Now to catch some fish........



Finches are too small to catch fish............................


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## John M (Dec 7, 2017)

"John - do you keep your Gouldians inside during winter? Your climate is pretty cold.

The guy I sit next to at work recently came back from the Northern Territory where he saw some wild Gouldian Finches. There are not a lot of them left unfortunately."

David....yes, when I had Finches in the past, as now, they are inside birds. Temps here are too cold for Gouldians 10 months a year and even in those other 2 months, it's not impossible to have an unusual cold snap. While our summers are hot, it's not unheard of for the jet stream to drop below the Great Lakes, allowing arctic air to temporarily dip further South than normal, bringing cold enough temps that we've had frost warnings in the middle of the summer.

Yes, I've read about and seen documentaries about the extreme situation facing the wild Gouldians. However, I've never really understood why they're having so much trouble in the wild. As long as they're warm enough they seem to be quite a hardy bird. Northern Australia is their natural range; so, what's going on? I heard long ago that it might be air sac mites that have arrived from abroad, which is causing the wild birds to struggle. Whatever the issue (mites, habitat destruction, exotic predators, etc.), I hope the issue gets resolved and the populations are able to bounce back.


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## abax (Dec 7, 2017)

I love the photo of the finch up close and checking you
out! They have lovely, bright eyes.


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## Secundino (Jan 2, 2018)

We wish you all a happy 2018!


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## John M (Jan 3, 2018)

He's smiling!


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## SlipperFan (Jan 5, 2018)

What a lovely bird!


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## Secundino (Jan 8, 2018)

Got this awesome bird - and his female companion - from my sister for _reyes_. It's an _Emblema picta_, Painted Finch or Painted Firetail.


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## John M (Jan 8, 2018)

Gorgeous! Is that the same species as what is called a Strawberry Finch?


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## Secundino (Jan 8, 2018)

The Strawberry Finch is another one, _Amandava_.


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## SlipperFan (Jan 8, 2018)

I think someone poured cherry jelly all over him (her?).


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## Secundino (Jan 19, 2018)

I had to empty my foto-gallery, so here is a replacement of one of the owls. Fully grown now, the white feathers, the upper tailcoverts are fully there (not to be seen on this shot, though).


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## Ozpaph (Jan 19, 2018)

super photo


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## Wendy (Jan 19, 2018)

He/she (?) has old man eyebrows. Too cute!


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## Secundino (Jan 19, 2018)

He. And he could be half a year old, more or less. :rollhappy:


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## Secundino (Feb 5, 2018)

A pair of _Emblema picta_.


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## Secundino (Mar 2, 2018)

Spring in the air and the birds get crazy.


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## Ozpaph (Mar 2, 2018)

beautiful


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