Similar to a thread I started for New Zealand, I was wondering what is the general situation regarding zoos and exotic birds in Australia. Are any species especially prevalent? Any completely absent?
From what I remember: 1 Chilean Flamingo 1 Greater Flamingo Egyptian Goose Helmeted Guineafowl Fiordland Crested Penguin Gentoo Penguin King Penguin Rhea Ostrich Blue Peafowl Green Peafowl Victoria Crowned Pigeon Ruddy Shelduck Red Junglefowl Andean Condor various Amazon species " " Macaw species " " Conure species Peach Faced Lovebird Masked Lovebird Mandarin Duck Lady Amherst's Pheasant Swinhoe's Pheasant Luzon Bleeding-heart dove 1 Razor-Billed Curassow Kalij Pheasant Golden Pheasant Chukar Partridge Buff-banded Rail
There are a few, mostly kept in aviculture. Many finch species are around but quite a few have very low numbers and may not be around for too much longer, thats if bird clubs dont arrange to save certain species. Softbills I know of are mainly pekin robins, common shamas, magpie robins (all in pretty low numbers) plus all the introduced species. There are many parrots, too many for me to list, but some are very low in numbers. There are a few pigeon and dove species. Here is a link to a good site with a large majority of the species in Australia: http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/trade-use/publications/pubs/inventory-exotic-species.pdf
Heres another good link. It's the SA bird suggested bird sale guide, it shows not all exotic species in Australia but a large array of them. http://www.unitedbirds.asn.au/Microsoft Word - Bird Price Guide and cover Nov 2009 _1_.pdf
list excludes domesticated species, introduced species, zoo only species, finch and parrot species (far too numerous) and species i have forgotten or those with unsustainable populations. ostrich pekin robin silver eared mesia oriental magpie robin red crested finch (not a finch but a tanager) masked dove ruddy ground dove luzon bleeding heart dove white-bibbed ground dove nicobar pigeon egyptian goose canada goose ruddy shelduck paradise shelduck new zealand scaup wood duck (carolina duck) mandarin duck chuckar partridge crested wood partridge (apparently a few pairs in an individuals hands) siamese fireback pheasant silver pheasant swinhoe's pheasant kalij pheasant common pheasant reeve's pheasant golden pheasant lady amherst's pheasant blue peafowl green peafowl red jungle fowl helmeted guinea fowl california quail bobwhite quail common quail blue breasted quail (chinese ssp.)
Wat about ploceidae. I know some Australian breeders that have descent results with vidua, euplectes and foudia species.
That's true. There are still, to my knowledge, Orange Bishop Weavers, Grenadiers, Madagascar and Comoro Weavers (and a lot of hybrids of the last two) and a few Red Shouldered Wydahs. I've also been told that there are Pin Tailed Wydahs, though I haven't seen any myself for years.
they certainly did exist in the not so-distant past. but the last i herd all remaining animals were in the hands of a single breeder. i know nothing more than that. it seems unlikely they will be bred back to a point of becoming "safe" again. on the upside the siamese fireback is making a slow comeback thanks to the success of a dedicated few.
Adelaide Zoo had pin-tailed whydahs maybe 3 years back, I think 3 males. Very beautiful birds, but are not easy to breed as you require an established colony of St Helena Waxbills.
I've had contact with an Australian breeder who bred pin-taileds couple of years ago. I assumed there are still some birds in private hands. And although they aren't the easiest birds to breed, they are the easiest birds from the vidua genus and if you take their needs into account it is not too hard.
Are you sure Steve? Because I always though that only Foudia eminentissima and Foudia madagascariensis were kept in Australia.
I have heard of Foudia omissa in Australia, but they are definately not as common as the other two. Heard of a man in South Australia having a couple from a bird dealer friend of mine, so they are around.
My understanding of the whole Forest Fody question is that it all came about when a certain victorian breeder decided that his specimens of the so-called Comoro Fody looked more like the Forest Fody. He then bred them truer to forest fody type and sold them as such (for a much inflated price). Its worth noting here that basically the distinction between the two species is how far the red feathering of the head extends down the breast. The Forest species has a red head and upper breast, the Comoro species does not. My theory? Its well known in Australia that people have hybridised the rarer Comoro's with the Madagascans here and there and polluted much, if not all, of the available Comoro stock. These "Forest Fodys" are simply Comoro's with a bit of Maddy in them that have then been selectively bred to appear more like a Forest fody. Hardly surprising considering how similar the pure Comoro and Forest Fody appear to begin with. Kinda ironic since the "Forest Fodys" here sell for more than the other two species when in actual fact hybrids are generally considered worthless to finch/softbill aviculturalists.
