The silliest twitch yet
Road-tripI have just spent the weekend taking part in my silliest search for a bird so far. A pair of Painted Finches have started nesting next to a creek down in the South Riverina which is a long way southwest from here, close to the Victorian border. Normally these finches live in the very dry interior and even if you can get over there, there's no guarantee that you'll find any as they've got a bit of a nomadic thing going on. As a result, a report of them nesting (meaning they weren't going anywhere) relatively (!) close by was enough to entice me into another road-trip.
Yanko Creek - allegedly home to the Painted FinchAnd so it was that by Sunday night, 1500 km and a cracked windscreen later, my list still sat on the same number as it had done on Friday night. And even more upsetting, reports are coming in that the birds were there in their expected spot on both Saturday and Sunday and there's even a picture of one of them taken, I'm guessing, about 20 minutes before I showed up. Gutted!
Its very flat in the South Riverina
Its very flat in the South RiverinaAt least it was a very pleasant drive with great weather and I also stayed in a lovely country town called Finley which was full of very nice people, but on the birding front it was a disaster. The only sightings of note were Little Friarbird, Yellow Rosella (same species as the Crimson one up here so no tick), an Emu (always nice) and an Echidna (and that's not even a bird). Question is: Do I go back for another try?!
Finley, NSW - a nice place
Finley, NSW - a nice place
posted by Iain @ 9/08/2008
2 comments
2 Comments:
You have to go back.
Out of all the birds I own, the Painted Finches are truly the most delicate. They are clumsy, easily overcome by stress in their environment and are prone to night frights. I have experienced night frights so severe that I have had to turn on all the lights in the middle of the night. The addition of several night-lights helped but did not eliminate the problem. They also take pleasure from basking under heat lamps after bathing and I strongly recommend allowing them to bathe daily. They have a tendency to get quite dirty because of all the time spent sleeping, cuddling and foraging on the floor. Painted Finches are delicate and will fall to disease if not kept meticulously clean.
Overall the Painted Finch is a good-natured, easy going, sweet and delightful bird. It best to house them either alone or will other birds of the same temperament. They will not tolerate being bullied by any aggressive bird such as owls or zebras. The male has an elaborate yet comical mating song and ritual that sounds like a squeaky windshield wiper which evokes a happy to be alive feeling in my bird room.
How did you miss them, they were nesting! It would not have been much easier if they were tied to a pole.
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