FINCHforum

if you guys knew that in cuba you didnt have to pay a single buck to have a cuban melodious or a bullfinch that are one of the most expensive in the market right now,and two of the best singers,i remember going out to get them with a trap cage a bird and some food!!the mocking bird its elegal to have in captivity here , over there people teach them songs like the national anthem and many others!

Yeah, and if you DON'T happen to live in Cuba? What then?!!

what do you mean? you need to buy it i dnt live in cuba i use to 6 years ago

I agree, the Cuban Melodious Finches are one of the most beautiful singers in the world. I've never had a pair, but several members of this forum do and I've heard their song on YouTube. I would love to visit Cuba someday as well! One of my favorite singers is Celia Cruz and I know she would have loved to have gone back before she passed -- I will never forgive Fidel Castro for denying her that right. But that's neat that you can simply catch the Cubans and other finches so easily -- that's actually how it was in Hawaii for Zebra Doves and Java Finches. We caught them all the time by throwing rice around.

You are more than welcome to come here and get the mockingbird that runs across our pool screen and sings every morning before the sun comes up....I won't tell!!!

I personally think it's a good thing that you are legally not allowed to catch wild birds in the U.S. and most of Europe and just put them in a cage as pets.

What did you do when you moved away? Release them in the wild again? "Lucky" birds...

hi
i am sorry but i dont agree with catching wild birds however easy it is just because they are plentifull doesnt mean you should be catching them,i like to see them out in the wild myself,i kept javas for years but if the only way i could have them was catching them in the wild then i would do without

ken

yeap but that was just the way it was !
there are two more finches native from cuba that you might have not heard of,mariposa cubana i dnt know its name in english but you can google it like that and the other one i dnt know its name in english reserch it by colorin azul but ill upload some pics they blue one has a beatiful song!!

I agree Kenny...some of the most beautiful little native birds would look nice in a cage especially out little blue birds...but they are much prettier flying across the paths in the park and singing freely.

this is the cuban mariposa

Cuban Mariposa reminds me a lot of our Painted Buntings

I find it interesting that individuals with waxbills and other wild caught african species find fault in catching native species.

It's not as if many of these caged birds weren't wild native species somewhere.

I would venture a guess that almost all of the South American softbills (Tanagers etc) are wild-caught.

I agree with you i was going to say that but i didnt wanna get into that argument!

by the way i didnt know about painted buntings they are the same bird i just didnt know the name in english i didnt know we had them in us

JavierAMoreno wrote:by the way i didnt know about painted buntings they are the same bird i just didnt know the name in english i didnt know we had them in us

Ah Yeah, they are beautiful - remind me a lot of the pin tailed parrot finch

Yes, many of our popular caged birds here were flying wild somewhere. Fortunately there are many species that are domestically/captive raised so those not wanting to take wild birds can still have captive birds without the guilt
I must laugh... I have taken many cages out to drive way to pressure wash... I leave them to sun dry. I can't tell you how many times I have gone out to find a wild bird that has flown into the cage. Mind you there is nothing in the cage, no dish, food, perch, nothing. These "self captured" have ranged from doves to wrens to mockingbirds.... I guess they think my caged birds don't have it so bad
That last bird, the mariposa, does remind me of the painted buntings... one of my favorites
Painted Bunting Pictures
http://www.pbase.com/dadas115/image/77528116

http://www.pbase.com/dadas115/image/98809161