Abstract
Poulykya: Your name ha appeared in Watchbird in earlier issues but then it was as a contributor.
Frey: Yes, I've written on the breeding of Lady Gouldian Finches and on the Painted Finches
Poulykya: Both of those pieces (June/July 1979 for the Gouldian and Oct/Nov 1985 for the Painted) are welt worth the trouble to find for those finch enthusiasts who want concise and excellent information. You have obviously had long experience. Did you begin with finches, and, if so, when?
Frey: I was born in central Texas, in a rural area where the vegetation was mainly scrub. This was an ideal habitat for a variety of the local birds. Some of my earliest memories involve a fascination with birds. I remember going out into the fields in early Spring to look for birds' nests. We bird keepers and breeders are often asked how we "got into birds," but I don't think there's ever a simple explanation for this. At some point I wanted to keep birds, so my understanding father built me an outdoor aviary for some Ringneck Doves when I was about nine. The doves were followed by budgies, then canaries and finches. Breeding Zebra Finches by the hundreds - as I now recall the numbers - made it financially possible for me to acquire more expensive birds.
When I was 14 my generous and understanding father provided me with the materials with which to build a twenty-foot long, climate controlled aviary. Pursuing my undergraduate degree from a Fort Worth university, about 80 miles from my hometown of Waco, meant that I could continue to
maintain the aviary at home. But graduate school meant a move to far-off Wisconsin, then to North Carolina. During this time it was impossible to keep birds. And once I had a doctorate in linguistics I began a teaching career in Seattle, followed by Los Angeles (UCLA), then to my current position at the University of Pittsburgh. It was here that I went back into birds in 1973.
Finches had always been my primary interest, so an aviary for these was built in the basement of our home. In the 1970s it was all but impossible to locate Gouldians. I wrote many letters to all the potential sources that I could ferret out (there were no ads in the bird magazines), but received only one positive response, from a breeder in San Diego. She had had no experience shipping birds and wasn't inclined to start, but with the help of a fellow fancier and friend of hers there, I was able to convince her that this fellow in Pittsburgh was really desperate and perhaps even deserving, so two pair of Goulds took up their new home in Yankeeland. Thus began my reward-
ing experiences with this wildly colorful, beautiful finch. Only one of the two pair bred for me, but they were wonderfully and unexpectedly productive. I often speculate that had this one pair not proven to be good breeders, my long-term love affair with the Gouldian Finch, that began in 1973, would never have begun. I soon began to introduce new bloodlines and I have been working with them ever since.
Poulykya: You are known for breeding mutations of the Lady Gould, aren't you?
Frey: Yes, in fact I received an AF A silver A VY award for my work with the white-breasted variety.
Poulykya: How do you care for and breed your finches?
Frey: I use a two-tier system of both two-foot cages and large walk-in flights for colony breeding. The smaller cages have plywood side frames and 1/2 in. by 1 in. welded wire fronts, tops and backs. These are arranged so that the breeding pairs cannot see one another. The large flights are about 10 ft. square, with 5/s in. aviary netting on frames. I normally house some five to
seven pairs for breeding, often with mixed species, and as long as you don't crowd them - and many people do make this mistake - most of the smaller finches will be peaceful, if territorial, especially when breeding. Since Goulds copulate in the nest cavity (an atypical finch habit), you want to provide them with at least a 5 in. cube nest.
After experimenting with nest boxes, I determined that you'll have more breeding success if you off-center the entry hole at the top of the box, so that they can place their nest cup in the far comer of the box as far from the entry hole as possible. The incubating birds are thus less likely to bolt off the nest when disturbed. They make great nests out of a fine dried grass that grows in this area, with which I half-fill the box to get them started. By the way, I much prefer nest boxes, with lids for inspection, as Goulds take to boxes readily, unlike some finches that favor baskets, and they easily tolerate regular inspections that a breeder will want to make for a variety of reasons.
All the birds are fed fresh, fertile seed including plenty of canary seed. I also offer them romaine or spinach, grit, eggshell, and whole wheat bread. And sprouted seed (the regular finch mix) is offered daily, as is egg food. I have never had much luck getting them to eat mealworms or other live food, and surmise that they don't really have a high protein requirement. This assumption perhaps contradicts what one reads about their dietary habits in the wild. I use Avitron as my vitamin supplement, with water given in open containers.