Hubbys new Finches

[dfcauley]

One of my very favorite finches!! I used to have two pairs. They have become almost impossible to find now. Congratulations!!

[jonvill]

I used to see them at the bird-marts all the time before but not anymore. They are $550 a pair at birdsexpress.
http://www.birdsexpress.net/painted-finch.html

[Grant]

Warning: some people (mostly from Wisconsin) get cranky when I talk about science. So, please feel free to disregard my follow-up post. I'll try to make it as layman as I can.

So...about my question of relatedness between Strawberry finches (Amandava amandava) and the painted finch (Emblema picta) and twinspots (e.g. Dybowski's twinspot or Euschistospiza dybowskii), I found an article:

http://www.benthamscience.com/open/tooe ... OOENIJ.pdf

The phylogenetic evidence (a "genealogy" or "family tree" inferred from DNA evidence) is based on only one gene and (from what I can tell) incomplete species sampling; both can decrease the statistical confidence in species relationships. Nevertheless, it appears that strawberries, twinspots, and allies may be more closely related to each other than to painted finches. I guess any similarities in appearance between these species could be because they share ancestral traits (e.g., why you may look like your ancestors) or because they evolved a similar appearance independently due to similar environmental pressures (this is called parallel or convergent evolution).

A rapid speciation event early in the evolution of this family is mucking things up for the scientists who are trying to figure things out. So I'm taking in this info with caution. It's a little weird, considering that both twinspots and painted finches are from Africa...but I guess birds are pretty mobile, aren't they?

What is interesting from this study is that the evidence suggests an origin in India for Estrildid finches, followed by rapid species radiations and dispersals to Africa, Australia, South Asia and the Indian and South Pacific Islands. I love to know where things came from and how they arrived where they are today -- don't you?

Anyway, sorry for the science review and I hope I didn't bore anyone to insanity or death. My curiosity gets the better of me sometimes. At any rate, I learned something about animal evolution--not something I typically keep up-to-date with. Just wanted to share!

[Mands]

They are beautiful! Do you know the scientific name? I have not seen them before, but I agree they look similar to strawberries or twinspots.

BTW, if you can't have more finches, why can your hubby have more? Seems the number of finches in one household would be the same for the total in the house, not by who they belong to? I'm not sure I get his reasoning, but I may be missing something.

In our house, even though certain finches may be technically my son's or my daughter's finches, I am the one who cares for them, buys them, and takes care of housing and pairings etc. So, is your husband wanting to have a choice in the types of finches? So, he gets to pick so many he likes and you get to pick the ones you like? Interesting...

It is pretty much a joke between us. He says "I have better finches than you do" to stir me up. He has picked about 3 pair so far that he likes. He has paid for most of "mine" so it is just a game really.

When we first seen them, i went gaga over them but couldn't afford them. So, he said to the man "John, i will have a pair of those Emblemas please" so i went green with envy. Then we joked all the way home about how many each of us has and who has the prettiest. He also gets to name all the animals in the house.

I do all of the looking after of the birds and gather all the info and do all the learning that i can. He just gets to walk into my bird room and have a look and a whistle and asks who is doing what.

As we have babies right now, he is pretty happy about that as well, as they are from my first pair of societies that he bought me.

So, yeh it is just a joke between us.

[Mands]

I used to see them at the bird-marts all the time before but not anymore. They are $550 a pair at birdsexpress.
http://www.birdsexpress.net/painted-finch.html

I wish you lived in Australia. Their were tons of them at the Bird sales last month for $40 a pair.

[Mands]

One of my very favorite finches!! I used to have two pairs. They have become almost impossible to find now. Congratulations!!

Thank you. I just posted to someone else that we have tons of them here for $40 a pair, there were lots at the Sales last month. Wish i could send you some.

[Diamond Sparrow]

Great birds,very placid.i have 5 pair of reds and 1 pair of yellows.
One pair have young in the nest at the moment.they are easy to breed.
They do like pieces of charcoal they pick it up and put in in their nest with feathers and small twigs.They nest in a cane basket ,wire cyclinder or will build their own in some brush

[Mands]

Diamond Sparrow

Heya fellow Aussie.

I was wondering about breeding as i have them inside in a cage with others. He did the mating head nod today but she wasn't up for it.

I have just today put silk plants in the cage and around their nests to give them all some privacy, they have cane nests in there that i have pre-packed with feathers and swamp grass but still enough for them to finish it off.

Thanks for the tip on the charcoal.

I cant wait to find some yellows, are they hard to get here? I only seen the reds last week here in Melbourne. I have a breeder friend who has a yellow hen and is desperate for a yellow cock. Maybe at the next sales in April we might find some.

[Diamond Sparrow]

I would let them build their own nest,throw some feathers in their cage.they love red pannicum seed,give them sprouted seeds and leb cucumber.I have seen them bred in large flight cages.Yellows are around but they are not that common at the sales in NSW lately.
They is a fawn variety being bred in WA

[Diamond Sparrow]

Just correction for Grant,Painteds are from Australia

[Mands]

Thanks for the info, hopefully i can get them to breed some lovely little babies. I will keep my eye out for some yellows for sure.

[Diamond Sparrow]

http://www.aussiefinchbreeder.com/Painteds.htm

[Sally]

I agree, Painteds, Twinspots, and Strawberries have similar appearances, particularly with the males, but with Painteds being from Australia, Twinspots from Africa, and Strawberries from Asia, it seems it is probably just coincidence.

[Grant]

Thanks for the correction and sorry about that. Yes of course, Australia!

[DanteD716]

DanteD716

LOL i was adding them to my signature as you were posting.

Yep they are basically mine as it is me who sits in the bird room all day with them al, and doing the looking after. Hopefully he might let me get a new cage to get a few more. They give me so much joy.

I have a Samsung tablet that i use in the room and i take notes on them all when i watch them and from everything i read on here and that you guys advise me to do. I have a great diary going on. Might get famous one day.

Just let him think they're his Maybe encourage him to buy a few more for "himself" And that actually sounds pretty neat, I also take some notes, but in a regular notebook.. I broke my tablet! And maybe, but remember when you get published... finchforum members get discounts on the book