Results of the 2023 Gouldian Count Part 2

Speaker: Gary Fitt
Venue: Morningside Hall, corner Thynne Road and Wynnum Road, Morningside.
Date: 3 May 2024 ( Second Friday of September )
Time: 6:30pm for 7:30pm start.
Zoom: Not available for this meeting.

In Part 2 of these presentations on the 2023 Gouldian Count Gary Fitt will present the results obtained during the week long waterhole count and their relevance in the context of past population estimates and ongoing conservation of the endangered Gouldian finch. He will explain the value of work done by Save the Gouldian Fund and challenges in interpreting the seasonal changes in abundance of the wild Gouldian. Attend live or on Zoom.

The magic of the 2023 Gouldian Count Part 1

Speaker: Ian Brown
Venue: Morningside Hall, corner Thynne Road and Wynnum Road, Morningside.
Date: 5 April 2024 ( Second Friday of September )
Time: 6:30pm for 7:30pm start.
Zoom: Not available for this meeting.

Our April meeting will cover all aspects of the 2023 Gouldian Count in the Kimberley with Ian Brown presenting a talk on “A Sojourn to the Gouldian Count in Wyndham” which will cover the thrills, spills, birds and fun during the multi- week roadtrip of Ian and Peter Holley to Wyndham and back in September last year. This meeting will provide some diverse information and images of birds and roads in inland Australia. Attend live. No Zoom available.

My First Season with Red Siskins, a learning experience.

Speaker: Peter McDonald
Venue: Morningside Hall, corner Thynne Road and Wynnum Road, Morningside.
Date: 1 March 2024 ( Second Friday of September )
Time: 6:30pm for 7:30pm start.
Or Zoom: link to be emailed to QFS members.

Our March meeting features Peter McDonald, long time QFS member who has served many roles on the Committee including President. Peter has extensive experience with many types of finches and particularly enjoys his huge free flight aviary which houses many species.

In this talk Peter will focus on the Red Siskin, a species which is new to him. In fact this is his first breeding season and he has several observations and experiences to share. Peter will also call on some experienced Red Siskin breeders for comment. Like the Green Singers which Peter has plenty of experience with, the Red Siskin is a cup nester but they are very different otherwise. Peter is learning about this species. Why not come along to learn too?

Join via Zoom if you can’t make it live.

Details for ZOOM connection as follows:
Topic: QFS March Meeting
Time: Mar 1, 2024 07:30 PM Brisbane

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84399340465?pwd=npRqrva2aT1q8ElrW5puXnkvkcmqBn.1
Meeting ID: 843 9934 0465
Passcode: 399398

“A Mixed Bag”

Speakers: Ian Brown, Jane Purcell, Brad Mayger, Dave Stuckey.
Venue: Hall, corner Thynne Road and Wynnum Road, Morningside.
Date: 5 January 2024.
Time: 6:30pm for 7:30pm start.
No Zoom, sorry.

January is obviously our first meeting of the year and time to wish everyone a Happy New Year and a great period ahead with your birds, family and friends. As is usual for our January meeting it will be a mixed bag of short, but interesting items.

We will have 3 or 4 short items:
– Ian Brown will deliver a short talk on breeding unusual livefoods – beyond maggots and mealworms.
– Jane Purcell will discuss compatibility among species, including finches and small parrots.
– Brad Mayger will outline his path from parrot to finches and some thoughts about what he has learned along the way.
– Finally Dave Stuckey may be able to attend and will discuss his transition to finches and his thoughts on the differences and similarities.

There will be plenty to interest you and much for discussion.
Unfortunately there will be NO ZOOM OPTION for this meeting.
NOTE ALSO that AWS will not be able to attend this meeting.

“Melanin Pigmentation in Finches pt 1 – Function, production and exploring the colours produced”

Speaker: Terry Martin
Venue: Hall, corner Thynne Road and Wynnum Road, Morningside.
Date: 1 December 2023.
Time: 6:30pm for 7:30pm start.
Or Zoom: link to be emailed to QFS members.

Terry Martin is a practising vet in Brisbane and is well known in Zebra Finch circles as one of the initiators of the National Zebra Finch Show, of Zebra Finch standards and as keen student of colour and how it is produced.

Earlier in the year Terry gave a short talk on Carotenoid pigments and how they impact colour in finches. In his talk he will focus on Melanin pigmentation and will introduce us to how Finches have been able to take a pigment that is black in its most common natural state and use it to produce an enormous array of subtle colours. He will also highlight how sometimes similar colours in different species can be produced in different ways!

The talk will give the breeder the important basic knowledge that is critical to then delve into understanding colour mutations which will be the topic of a future talk – Melanin Pigmentation in Finches – Part 2 – Colour mutations and their genetic control (sometime in 2024). Don’t miss Part 1.

“The Blue Gouldian – Challenges and Rewards”

Speaker: Raoul Richards
Venue: Hall, corner Thynne Road and Wynnum Road, Morningside.
Date: 6 October 2023 ( Second Friday of September )
Time: 6:30pm for 7:30pm start.
Or Zoom: link to be emailed to QFS members.

Raoul Richards started in the bird hobby in Ipswich in 1975 at the age of 12 with Budgerigars. As the son of one of Queensland’s top Open Budgie breeder’s Roy Richards and with guidance from Barney Hackney, another of Queensland’s legendary bird enthusiast’s, Raoul had some great supporters. At 20 years old he became one of Australia’s youngest Budgerigar Judges after completing his judging exams. Raoul, and his father also kept a collection of Australian and Foreign Finches as well as African Lovebirds. In 2000 Raoul moved to America and spent 13 years in the States where he stayed in touch with the bird hobby doing aviary visits, attending shows and sales, gave the odd lecture, and judged occasionally. Returning to Australia in December 2014 Raoul quickly started building aviaries and now specialises in breeding Blue Gouldian’s and Mutations. The Blue Gouldian is a challenging mutation for many breeders, but with careful management it can be hugely rewarding. Raoul will outline how he has found success with them. Come and learn. Zoom will also be an option.

“Fly-in Guests and Visitors”

Speaker: Vic Boorman
Venue: Hall, corner Thynne Road and Wynnum Road, Morningside.
Date: 8 September 2023 ( Second Friday of September )
Time: 6:30pm for 7:30pm start.
Or Zoom: link to be emailed to QFS members.

Vic Boorman is a long time QFS member and part of the Committee. His interest in finches started when he was a child and he has maintained his enthusiasm to today with an excellent collection and set of aviaries.

Vic is an excellent presenter and did so as recently as July. He has stepped into the breach to also cover the September meeting with a presentation titled ” Fly-in Guests and Visitors”. He will give an overview of the birds he has kept in aviculture and also the many birds which visit his garden. It is an impressive list. The talk will be filled with interesting observations about birds of all types.

Come along and learn something from an experienced aviculturist, contribute to the discussion and chat with colleagues. Unfortunately we cant have an option for Zoom this meeting.

The Avicultural Continuum – Past, Present and ?

Speaker: Tom De Graaff ( Melbourne )
Venue: Hall, corner Thynne Road and Wynnum Road, Morningside.
Date: 4 August 2023.
Time: 6:30pm for 7:30pm start.
Or Zoom: link to be emailed to QFS members.

Tom started his bird life as a school kid in 1970. Over the years, he has kept and bred a variety of finches, doves and small parrots since then.

Growing up in the Victorian regional town of Ballarat, Tom had a team of mentors in the local Avicultural Club and then, in 1976, took his passion for birds to University with him! Tom’s studies in zoology and genetics tied in perfectly with aviculture. This was at the start of quite a boom in the breeding of lovebird mutations then many others.

Tom has written a number of articles on the subject of genetics but this talk will concentrate more on the avicultural and genetic future of our birds.

“Dazzling Diamonds”

Speaker: Vic Boorman
Venue: Hall, corner Thynne Road and Wynnum Road, Morningside.
Date: 7 July 2023.
Time: 6:30pm for 7:30pm start.
Or Zoom: link to be emailed to QFS members.

Vic is a long time QFS member and part of the Committee. His interest in finches started when he was a child and he has maintained his enthusiasm to today with an excellent collection and set of aviaries. Vic has always enjoyed watching his birds closely to glean insights into why some approaches to breeding work and others don’t.

In this presentation Vic will focus on the Diamond Firetail – a dazzling species and a relatively free breeder when you know how. Vic will tell us how he has success with dazzling Diamonds. Don’t miss it.

Adam FitzGerald (Canberra)

“A Life with Birds”

Venue: Hall, corner Thynne Road and Wynnum Road, Morningside.
Date: 2 June 2023.
Time: 6:30pm for 7:30pm start.
Or Zoom: link to be emailed to QFS members.

Adam Fitzgerald has kept a large variety of birds over a period of 30 years. Keeping a mixed collection of softbills and finches in Canberra brings challenges, but Adam is highly successful with all his species reflecting the attention to detail he brings to his aviary design and the husbandry applied to maintaining his collection.

He has had articles published in various avicultural publications including Australian Birdkeeper Magazine (ABK), Pet & Aviary Birds, various club magazines & even some overseas. Adam is also a regular on the bird club talk scene and in this presentation he will discuss his life with birds, providing some insights into some of his favourite species.