FINCHforum

Does anyone have any theories about why it is so difficult to find Strawberry Finches? I have communicated with several people I ran across on the Internet, and everyone has said that they stopped breeding them several years ago because they couldn't sell them. I'd love to get a pair, or even one at this point, but they simply are not available on the West Coast (or anywhere else, for that matter.) Being new to finches, I'm really curious about what happened to all of those Strawberries.

Sue

Part of the problem is that with Asian flu, all imports from Asia stopped, ending the main source of Strawberries. Since Strawberries had been so cheap prior to that, breeders had not bothered with them--easier to just go out and buy new ones.

So it caught everyone off-guard when the source dried up, and there were few breeders. Many people had Strawberries, but had not tried to breed them. As the years passed, all those Strawberries have aged, and most are no longer of breeding age. My most prolific male fathered four babies in January of this year, and then all eggs since have been infertile. He is now 6 years old, so I'm guessing that the breeding time for Strawberries is probably 1-5 years.

They are coming in from time to time from Canada, where they are still getting wild-caughts (don't ask me where they are coming from, I have no idea). There are now established wild populations in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, so some come from there.

It is the old supply and demand rule at work--since there are so few Strawberries available, the price has gone way up. Some people have sold their old Strawberries as young, for very inflated prices. Few of those birds were closed banded, so there is no proof of age.

There are a few breeders working with them, myself included, because if we don't get the numbers up and get some unrelated bloodlines, they will eventually disappear from U.S. aviculture--you can only line breed so much before it implodes. This is going to take a while, I am just now on my third generation, and I have only three of them right now. And most of these other breeders are keeping very quiet about it. As one of them said to me, she didn't want to be inundated with requests for Strawberries, so she doesn't let people know she has them.

I just posted somewhere else about Strawberries selling for $46 at PetsMart and $25 at marts only about 5 years ago. My first Strawberry was a hen that was rescued from a PetsMart--the manager gave her to me because she was being plucked to death by the Zebras she had as cagemates.

You will see ads on craigslist, etc., from time to time for Strawberries. Be very careful with these ads, and know what you are getting into. Most of these birds are not banded, so you have no idea how old they are, and it is a shame to pay top dollar for an old bird. Some of the sellers are only stating what they were told when they bought the birds, that the birds are 1-2 years old, so they really don't know either.

Buyer beware when it comes to Strawberries--if you just want a male for your aviary for the color and song, and you don't care how much it costs or how old the bird is, there are birds out there. There is a broker in the SFO or Sacramento area who had some for a while--imports from Canada, I heard--but they were quite pricey.

It may have something to do with their very vexing habit of issuing smoke alarm volume 2 note repetitive calls at between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m. during breeding season. They are such delightful, cute little guys and the male has a beautiful little song, but that 5:00 a.m. wake-up call is something else. Piercing and wall penetrating! My pair have been moved to temporary residence in a nice long breeding cage in my laundry room at the opposite end of my house from the bedrooms. Finally, I can no longer hear the male sounding off in the predawn darkness and hopefully, they might at least think about a nesting attempt this go round, though they are probably way too old for it.

Well I love the call of my three strawberry males every morning. I can count on them as my free alarm clock. They are such cute little birds and I love the way they cuddle together.

I love everything about the strawberries (except this predawn smoke alarm repetitive call), and they were my very first finches to acquire. But, maybe it is the spring time change around here but somehow the 5:30 a.m. wake-up calls warp into 4:30 a.m. wake-up calls and even blackout curtains did not cause them to "reset" to a more appropriate wake-up time. After many complaints from hubby, I moved them a few weeks ago to their own private very roomy breeding cage in my sunny laundry room (with a door!) and now the male can sing away to his heart's content at whatever hour he chooses and the rest of us can sleep in a little later. My strawberry male does not call like this all year long. I really believe these calls signal breeding season - they begin in the late summer/early fall and cease in early spring? The males molt into their eclipse plummage after that and the shrieking 2 note wake up calls cease. So, even though this pair is probably nigh on 7 years old, I am giving them a chance to raise a clutch and also let us get some sleep. The real "song" the male strawberry sings is one of my favorites of all the finches. It is beautiful, and one of my gouldian fledglings "imprinted" somehow and now he sings the strawberry song, then tacks on the gouldian song at the end. Too cute. Just glad he did not pick up the early morning wake up call as well.

Or you are like me, with age my hearing is not what it used to be, so even though the birds are in the next room to my bedroom, nothing wakes me up. I am quite capable of sleeping thru alarm clocks. So I am not bothered at all by that early-morning call.

dfcauley wrote:Well I love the call of my three strawberry males every morning. I can count on them as my free alarm clock. They are such cute little birds and I love the way they cuddle together.

I don't have Strawberries, but my finches sound an early call in the mornings. I too use their call and songs as my free alarm clock. They start when my dogs ask to go outside or I have to get up to use the bathroom, around 5-6am. Since I have to get up to get the kids to school and me to work, the morning calls are a good thing. Then, they quickly turn into singing and I love slowly waking up to the birds songs. A beautiful way to wake up.