Red-heads rule the roost

Red-heads have always been associated with a bit of fiery temperament, and it seems that in the bird world, Gouldian finches are no exception. Recent studies on the Gouldian finch have shown that red-heads are highly aggressive and dominate black- and yellow-headed birds (see details on the Research page).

Some of the media coverage:

The Age (Australia), Macquarie News (Australia), 2SER Radio (Australia), A Question of Balance (Australia), Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), Australasian Science (Australia), Science Daily, Mongabay (USA), Physorg (Internet), Scientific Innovations (Germany), BNET (Australia), Modern Tribalist (Internet), OSEL (Czeslovakia)

Gouldian study starts

Lloyd Marshall from Talking Birds (March 2006) reports on the start of the Save The Gouldian Fund and the plans for the research taking place at the Gouldian finch research facility (in Martinsville) and in the wild. This article also explains the Fund, what it aims to do and how it works.

For a PDF of the full Talking Birds article please click here

Winged Jewels - why is one of the world's most popular caged birds disappearing from the wild?

In a 2005 edition of Australian Geographic, Karen McGee interviews Mike Fidler about his 40+ year interest in the Gouldian finch - where it started and why he is so concerned about the current decline in the wild. This article also details some of the work that has been done to date on the Gouldian finch and the problems currently faced by this iconic species in the wild.

For further details, click here. The full article can be found in the July-September (2005) issue of Australian Geographic