FINCHforum

I was contacted by a long time finch breeder and show exhibitor.
He has made arrangements to buy a pair of my normals. He said that the blue around the black headband was something he wanted to get more into his lines. He said that while at the Chicago show the judge had commented on the lack of blue he was seeing these days.
Anyway he saw my pictures and was so nice and complimentry of my wild color line I was breeding. I am on the 3rd generation of these. We talked about the extreme red head of my hens too.
I have never shown my birds so I was flattered that someone that did show would see the beauty of my pets I am glad to get some positive feed back on my efforts Do any gouldian breeders of the forum have wide turquoise band. I also saw on the Aussie Finch Forum where someone has a darker more colbolt blue band. Very striking it is. (link to the colbolt below) Would love to see some pics of your normal colored bird heads

2nd generation






Hen with super head




3rd generation in the center...born 10-17-09 already colored up


Here is the link to the Colbolt blue band on the Aussie Finch Forum
http://aussiefinchforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=3101

Very pretty Canadace!

WOW! Beautiful colour! And that cobalt blue bird is really something!

Thanks Cindy and Franny. Yes, I would love to get one of those colbolt heads...too bad they are way down under

I have a few birds where the blue band is so extensive - it goes all the way down their backs!

But seriously - you have beautiful birds Candace!

Are you sure that's a hen? Or did you wipe some charcoal on a lilac male's beak?

Liz that's a good one. That blue does go all the way down the back He is a nice looking blue.

Domenic... you caught my trick

You know I've been trying to meet breeders to show me the ropes to these gouldians so that I can breed nice birds. Not too many around these parts but thanks to the internet and websites I am meeting some nice helpful breeders. I sure wish they had those shows close enough to go to.

Candace,

I would love to spend the day with you talking genetics, conformations, breeding for certain traits and what is what... I've had some excellent mentors.

I honestly have never given any thought to the blue behind the mask and now you have me curious! Off to look at my birds!
I have noticed on some birds the colors seem to come right out and smack you though - just vibrant as can be and others don't ever seem to get that "pop" to their colors.

I didn't see a difference in color of the link you posted - looked no different then yours birds you posted pictures of... maybe I missed the point.

I agree with the others you have beautiful birds - you are doing a wonderful job with them.

I personally would still love to have a OH LB bird from you

Ps. That female is gorgeous! What color were her parents?

I'm curious to see if there is a certain pairing that produces those full masks or if it is strictly genetics. I'm not sure because I don't normally breed RH's - this year is my first time breeding them specifically. Otherwise I always breed BH and OH since they are my favorite.

Did all the sisters in that clutch have a full mask or other siblings from another clutch? Or is it just one that gets the full clean mask?

Thanks Misty,
Most of my hens don't get that much of a full head of red. They get some good color but only a couple have gotten the full mask...though I have had mostly males in that clutch. I did inbreed this one with her DAD once only,experiement, 2 chicks... they have not colored up yet. I plan to pair her with a new RH PB GB male that I bought. He is a beauty
These full heads are from the genetic line of my original pair. They are what made me want to breed the gouldians in the first place. The pair had 5 chicks(4 male and 1 female)..... they were all just pets. When they were 5 years old I bought 2 BH from a breeder, I believe they were sisters and then I bought 2 RH from Emily (gammy's). I paired with my 4 RH boys.... the large mask came from 2 different of those pairs, 1 with a BH hen and 1 with the RH hen...so that tends to make me think that the trait is from the cocks line. I think it is just an exception as not all the males have gotten that much blue either.

I am hoping to have some lilacs available soon. I will let you know first thing.... I also aquired some really nice lilacs from that last purchase I made from the NFSS classifieds... I have paired them and hope to get another lilac breast line going. I will keep you posted as that all progresses.

Wow they are so beautiful!

I don't think these kind of finches are even sold out here in Iceland haha.