Save the Gouldian Fund

Article by Marcus Pollard, Australia
Photos by Mike Fidler, Australia
Adaptation by Peter Rindom, Denmark

All rights reserved

Less Than 2500 Gouldian Finches Remain in the Wild!

If this figure shocks you then this article aims to give you the opportunity to help redress this shocking statement!
The vast flocks described by John Gilbert, who collected for the naturalist John Gould, have dwindled to such low numbers that these majestic finches are extinct across much of their former range.
In fact this very statement was the main motivating factor behind forming the Save The Gouldian Fund. We felt deeply distressed that one of the World’s greatest avian jewels is so close to the abyss of total extinction in the wild.
The Gouldian must surely be one of the most prized and sought after finches throughout the world with new mutations recorded every year. It is a bird that supplies both the genetic purists and the mutation lovers with a challenge and the potential for a ‘new’ variety. How can it be that such a widespread aviary bird is so ‘close to the edge’ in its natural environment?

Perhaps even more poignant should be the question:
“What can YOU do to help”?

I guess before we say too much more you must be wondering who are behind the Save The Gouldian Fund now that you know why it was formed!
The brains behind this fund raiser for the restoration of the Gouldian Finch are Mike & Elisabeth Fidler and Marcus Pollard, a Tasmanian aviculturist.

Mike decided that he wanted to create a body that would raise money for the entire gamut of Gouldian Projects and, at the same time, give back some of the onus for its salvation onto Aviculturists the world over.
Mike Fidler is well-known to many of you and he hails from the UK but now resides in Australia. He has bred finches since his childhood and is author to books about both Gouldian Finches and Parrot Finches. He has been visiting remote Western Australia since 1985 where he spotted his first, and only for that day, juvenile Gouldian finch and became “hooked’!.

Throughout the 1990’s both Mike and Elisabeth Fidler became members of the UK’s Newcastle University research team and completed many field surveys and mapped a number of population “hot-spots” of the Gouldian throughout the Kimberley region.

The old Mornington Station (now the Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary) was surveyed in 2002 and a relatively healthy population of Gouldians was discovered on it.

In 2003 Mike and Elisabeth Fidler agreed to fund the “Australian Wildlife Conservancies (AWC) Gouldian Finch Restoration Program” and Dr Sarah Legge and Steve Murphy were employed to head up the research programme. This current venture means to build upon that foundation by giving aviculturists the world over an opportunity to have an input into the salvation of a much loved avicultural icon.

The 312,000 hectare Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary in the Kimberley region of the far north-west of Western Australia is owned and operated by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) which has properties in many states of Australia, and is now the largest privately funded conservation organization there.

The biologists have not yet fully determined what is causing the decline of this popular avicultural species, although they believe it is more likely to be associated with fire practices and cattle grazing than with any of the other theories which have been voiced in the past. Future research will investigate this with an emphasis on improving fire regimes especially during the Gouldians breeding season.

Thus, over a hot and humid week, fittingly at Mornington itself in September 2005 the Save The Gouldian Fund was formed to ensure that all forms of research into the Gouldian finch could be supported.

With little in the way of ‘support staff’ the Fund aims to make the vast majority of donations available to researchers rather than lost in infrastructure.

We hope that these few words strike a chord with bird people the world over and that you decide to dig deep to make this Fund a major contributor to the salvation of Erythrura gouldiae, the Gouldian Finch for, simply, without you our hopes are in vain!

Perhaps we should leave a few words to the man behind the Save The Gouldian Fund:

"I feel compelled to try and save Gouldian Finches. I have spent half a lifetime studying and learning about them, and to watch Gouldians die out in the wild would be tragic. We want to save the Gouldians - that means reversing the decline”. Mike Fidler

THE WILD GOULDIAN FINCH URGENTLY NEEDS YOUR HELP!!

As earlier mentioned the beautiful Gouldian finch is seriously threatened in its wild habitat.

Given the nature of the Gouldian Finches place in aviculture would it not be a travesty if this magnificent bird was to disappear from its native habitat?

The reasons for its decline are as yet unclear, but with your help, the Save The Gouldian Fund together with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and a specialist team of scientists will continue to unlock the puzzle by investigation and research based in both aviary and in the field.
Our aim is not only to fully identify these limiting factors but to reverse this decline with a view to restoring the Gouldian to its former numbers and range.

The AWC has acquired a 750,000 acre property in the Kimberley region of Western Australia – one of the last breeding strongholds of the Gouldian finch – where ongoing field studies are being conducted.

However, the only problem with ecological studies of this magnitude, in such remote areas, is that they are very expensive.

We need your help in raising funds to ensure this project continues to be a success and to protect the remaining pockets of the Gouldian Finch.

So become a donor, encourage your colleagues and friends to do likewise and lobby your Avicultural Society to become actively involved.

We’re in it for the long haul but can the Gouldian Finch count on you to do likewise?

Why should aviculturists donate?

The research is revealing fascinating facts that will help aviculturists improve the breeding and keeping of Gouldian’s and other birds. Eg. scientists are currently working on nutrition and will be able to ultimately tell us exactly what diet a Gouldian requires during the different phases of its life cycle. Most of the information we currently have on nutrition is based on research done on poultry which is hardly appropriate!
All donors will receive a quarterly Bulletin keeping you up to date with progress and interpreting the scientific work done into knowledge that can be useful in aviculture. It will also contain a 'Handy Tips' section prepared by fellow aviculturists.
Aviculture has a poor image with wildlife authorities and the general public. The Gouldian is an iconic bird which is getting a growing amount of publicity.

Wouldn't it be good if aviculture could be seen as the saviour of a species rather than as a gang of egg smugglers and wild bird trappers?

Show the various animal rights organisations that target our hobby and treat us with derision, that we can be ‘givers’ and not just the ‘takers’ they portray us as in the media.
It presents you with an opportunity to become actively involved in a scientific, conservation and public education program with the Gouldian finch as the ultimate winner.
All money donated to “Save The Gouldian Fund” goes directly to this Gouldian Finch project.

Already from the research into the Gouldian finch we have gleaned much useful information concerning behaviour and diet that has a flow-on effect to our hobby, so just think of the possibilities of the future where, if we can make this exercise successful, we could go on to sponsor research into other species of interest to aviculture.

To see any species disappear from the Earth is a cause for concern but more so for one that has inspired so many books and given so much joy to countless generations of bird keepers – from those captivated with their beauty to those keen to unlock the world of avian genetics.
This is perhaps our last chance to put something back into a pastime that has given us all so much.

I WISH TO DONATE AND HELP SAVE THE GOULDIAN FINCH!

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                    SAVE THE GOULDIAN FUND
               PO BOX 147
                  COORANBONG
               NSW 2265
   AUSTRALIA

Further Information e-mail : marcus_pollard@hotmail.com