Sub-forums for different types of finches - NOT

[finchmix22]

O.K. I can see the benefit of subgrouping species. I'll do a general search for unread posts. I like the idea of grouping by their scientific names, if they are similar in behavior and such, although; newbies would need both names listed because most don't know the scientific terms.

[JohnBoy]

Also what catergorie would silverbill's go in?

Silverbills would be covered in the mannikins section

[L in Ontario]

I agree that we need to generalize by grouping several similar species together. We have to think about uncommon species too; and if we group by genus rather than naming only some species it would become clear were to post.
When I first looked and saw Green Singer, I thought where do Gray Singers go? They are so similar in everything. It would be nice to join these two species and many others. Exceptions have to be made. I wanted to say all Serinus species, but we have to separate Canary, so I suggest replacing Green Singer with Serinus except Canary, and add Canary sub-forum. The same approach could be applied to all other species.
Lately I couldn't keep track on all topics, but I would like to keep track of all posts from my species. I think with new sub-forums I could subscribe and it would help me not to miss any posts I could be interested, or I could provide some advice.

Great points! I didn't even think of Grey Singers. And I like posting the latin and common names (as I've started to do) so we all can learn them - I don't know most of them, so I'll need help in that department too.

Can I just make 2 forums as:
Serinus (Canary - all varieties)
Serinus (Green and Grey Singer)

[L in Ontario]

Keep the constructive critiquing, thoughts and comments, as well as types of finches that should be listed, coming

[CandoAviary]

I love this new feature. I think it will be helpful when you get a new species that you have never kept, also to find who is working with the same species you are working with, etc.
Lots of work, but great addition

[tobyneilson]

Also what catergorie would silverbill's go in?

Silverbills would be covered in the mannikins section

Thanks

[Sally]

I think this will work really well, especially for newbies, who can read the species information at the FIC, and then turn to this section for specific hands-on experience from owners/breeders. I was one who didn't think this would work very well, but I am changing my mind.

I do like the idea of using scientific names and grouping by genus, never hurts to learn the scientific names of our fids. Most birds in a genus have similar needs. We could have the scientific genus, followed by a few common names to help people learn where their birds belong.

For the Singers, I would suggest:
Serinus (Canary)
Serinus (Green/Gray Singers i.e.)
or
Serinus (Canary)
Serinus (except Canary)

For Strawberries, they are in the Amandava genus, along with Goldbreasts, so those two could be put together.
Amandava (Gold/Orange-breasted, Strawberry)

Most of the waxbills fall into the Estrilda genus:
Estrilda (most Waxbills)

The CBs belong to another genus:
Uraeginthus (Cordon Bleus, Purple Grenadiers, Violet-eared Waxbills)

Hmmm, that might be a little too long.

Poephila covers Owls, Shaft-tails, Zebras, and I think Zebras would need their own subforum:
Poephila (Owl/Bicheno, Heck's/Shaft-tail i.e.)
Poephila (Zebra)

Lonchura (Bengalese/Society)
Lonchura (all other Mannikins)

Erythrura would cover all the Parrot finches.

And so on. There still will be a lot of subforums, or we could have one Miscellaneous or All Other at the bottom of the list, to cover those species that really don't need their own subforum, due to little activity. Also, it would be easy to add a subforum say in the Lonchura genus, yet the new subforum would still be grouped with that genus--much care information is similar within a specific genus.

[JohnBoy]

Personally I think using scientific names will make things more confusing. Personally I would avoid that.

[L in Ontario]

Personally I think using scientific names will make things more confusing. Personally I would avoid that.

I would really like to keep the scientific / Latin names for those who want to learn them. Those that don't, can look at the common names right after the latin names.

[L in Ontario]

Thanks Sally - that's exactly what I need as I just don't have the time to look up the individual Latin/scientific names. I'll use the ones you posted above later tonight or tomorrow.

If anyone knows more of them, pls post them here too. I (for one) need all the help I can get.

Candace - I haven't forgotten about your request! I'll get to it soon too.

[finchmix22]

Here is the listing of the scientific names, followed by the commonly used names from the Finch Info Ctr.
African Silverbill
Lonchura cantans
Aurora Finch
Pytilia phoenicoptera
Bar-breasted Firefinch
Lagonosticta rufopicta
Black-headed Mannikin/Munia/Nun
Lonchura atricapilla
Black-rumped (Red-eared) Waxbill
Estrilda troglodytes
Blue-breasted Cordon Bleu
Uraeginthus angolensis
Blue-capped Cordon Bleu
Uraeginthus cyanocephala
Blue-faced Parrot Finch
Erythrura trichroa
Bronze [-winged] Mannikin
Lonchura cucullata
Common (St. Helena) Waxbill
Estrilda astrild
Crimson Finch
Neochmia phaeton
Cuban (Melodious)
Finch Tiaris canora
Cut-throat Finch
Amadina fasciata
Diamond Firetail
Emblema guttata
European Goldfinch
Carduelis carduelis
Goldbreast [-ed Waxbill]
Amandava subflava
Green Singing Finch
Serinus mozambicus
Grey-headed Silverbill
Mannikin/Munia Lonchura caniceps
Java (Rice Bird) Sparrow
Padda oryzivora
Lady Gouldian Finch
Chloebia gouldiae
Lavender Waxbill
Estrilda caerulescens
Melba Finch
Pytilia melba
Orange (Red Bishop) Weaver
Euplectes orix
Orange Cheeked Waxbill
Estrilda melpoda
Owl (Bicheno) Finch
Poephila bichenovii
Paradise Whydah
Vidua paradisaea
Parson's Finch
Poephila cincta
Peter's Twinspot
Hypargos niveoguttatus
Pin-tailed Nonpareil
Erythrura prasina
Pin-tailed Whydah
Vidua macroura
Purple Grenadier
Uraeginthus ianthinogaster
Red Avadavat (Strawberry Finch)
Amandava amandava
Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu
Uraeginthus bengalus
Red-throated Parrot Finch
Erythrura psittacea
Saffron Finch
Sicalis flaveola
Shaft-tail (Heck's Grass) Finch
Poephila acuticauda
Society (Bengalese) Finch
Lonchura striata domestica
Spice Finch
Lonchura punctulata
Star Finch
Neochmia ruficauda
Swee (Yellow-bellied) Waxbill
Estrilda melanotis
Tri-colored Munia/Nun
Lonchura malacca
Violet-eared Waxbill
Uraeginthus granatina
White-headed Mannikin/Munia/Nun
Lonchura maja
Zebra Finch
Poephila guttata

[kenny]

hi
this is the trouble spice birds come under mannikins,is there a section for those,i am not worried myself as i always go straight to new posts anyway to see if i can be of any assistance,but is it made user friendly for newbies.as i have seen people who cant find the main menu and certain sections that where easy to find the thing i am aiming at is you may lose other members if it is made to complicated,because alot of people come on and ask for help in identifying thier finches so where do they go.you of course do what you think is fit for your site but a lot of other things need to be taken into consideration

ken

[L in Ontario]

Thanks Deborah. I see a lot of those can be combined to reduce the number and the common names will stand out a bit when they are put in brackets after the basic Latin name.

Kenny - it should still remain simple for new comers to the forum. I'm not worried about loosing members over this. It's not rocket-science. It's meant to actually help and educate people (including myself) a little more. Education is good, even to an old chicken like me.

[Sally]

I agree with you, Liz, education is always a good thing. In the plant world, there is much confusion over common names for plants, but each plant has a distinct scientific name, so when that name is used, you know exactly what plant someone is talking about.

In the finch world, there can be confusion over common names as well. We have the Owl in the U.S., Bicheno in Europe, Double-barred in Australia, but all over the world, it is Poephila bichenovii. The Society in the U.S. is known as Bengalese in much of the world, yet all over the world, it is Lonchura striata domestica.

I think people will get used to this after a while. For I.D., people can still post in the main forum, and once a bird is identified, that thread could be moved to the proper subforum.

I can work on the list of scientific names for you this afternoon, if you would like. For now, I have to get outside and water my dying plants and trees before the temperature hits 102!

[finchmix22]

Liz,
Your welcome. I think, being fairly new to this myself, that as long as the common name is in ( ), newbies will be able to learn, as we all can do. I just copied and pasted the list from the finch info ctr, but I do not know them myself. I looked at the names and realized what type of finches I have and their behavior make a little more sense when I realized they were related to another finch I'd read about. So, hopefully this will be educational.