I have been keeping finches since March of 2000. Although I feel like they've been in my life forever, in the big scheme of things, that is only a short time. There are so many fanciers out there who have been doing this so much longer than I have and who are infinitely more knowledgeable than I am. However, few of these people put the details of their experiences on the Internet in any complete form. While my experiences may not measure up to theirs, I have learned a few things that cannot be easily found on the Internet or in my books and thus I feel I have something to contribute.

My first finches were housed in a 6-ft long Living Room aviary. Two years later, I designed a bigger and better aviary that would give the birds more space while making maintenance easier. My husband, Tom, did all the hard work, building it to my specifications. The construction of that aviary is documented on my introductory site, FinchAviary.com, along with basic information about finch care and maintenance.

The Living Room aviary is a non-breeding environment that houses a variety of species of finches. At one time or another it has been home to zebras, societies, Lady Gouldians, strawberries, goldbreasts, masked grassfinches, stars, owls, blue-capped cordon bleus, orange-cheeked waxbills, canaries, Javas, and button quail.

During this time, I chose not to breed my birds (with the exception of a clutch of society finches that was mainly a surprise). I didn't want to breed without having a plan and definitive goals. Instead, I focussed my attention on finch health issues. For a while, it was very difficult to get a handle on finch illness - by the time the birds showed symptoms, they were frequently too far gone to treat. Symptoms for a variety of problems presented in the same way, making it impossible for me (and sometimes even a vet) to tell exactly what was wrong.

To deal with this problem, I learned to use a microscope to analyze droppings. I learned to identify a variety of common problems, many of which were easily treatable if caught early enough. I learned to identify these problems in new birds that had not yet been exposed to my flock and in birds not showing symptoms, when they still could be treated and cured.

Armed with a better handle on finch health and disease, I decided I was ready to begin my breeding program. But first I had to make some decisions. What species did I want to work with and what would be my goals? With imports being severely limited, conservation of the birds we have in captivity is more important than ever. On the other hand, showing had become a new hobby of mine, and selective breeding to show standards was also a tempting challenge. In the end, I fell in love with a pair of orange-cheeked waxbills, and I decided that this was the species I wanted to focus on. Since orange-cheeked waxbills are mainly imported, conservation became my goal. I was going to try to help establish a viable captive-bred population of this lovely species.

I needed quite a bit of space to work with this species, so Tom walled off a 12-ft by 18-ft section of our basement that would become our bird room. While orange-cheeked waxbills have been known to breed in cages, I have always preferred keeping finches in an aviary environment. So, I designed my bird room to include an 8-ft by 10-ft free flight (for birds not currently breeding) and three walk-in breeding aviaries measuring 8-ft by 4-ft. Each aviary could be divided in half to make a total of six 4-ft by 4-ft breeding aviaries. The free flight could also hold 3-ft-long stackable double breeder cages, should they become necessary.

Just before imports were cut off, I placed an order for 25 orange-cheeked waxbills and, for a little variety and comparison, 10 rosy-rumped waxbills. These birds now inhabit my bird room.

Record keeping is very important to me. It would be difficult to learn from my experiences without a way to keep track of my data. Thus, my birds are banded with numbered open or closed aluminum bands. I am working on writing database software that I can use for my record-keeping purposes. While such software can be purchased, I prefer to write my own - customized to my practices and the data I am interested in keeping. As a software engineer, this gives me the opportunity to combine both of my interests into one project.

I am a founding member of the Finch and Softbill Breeders and Exhibitors Club (FSBEC) (Chicago Area), and a member of the National Finch and Softbill Society (NFSS), the American Softbill and Finch Association (ASFA), the American Federation of Aviculture (AFA), the Greater Chicago Cage Bird Club (GCCBC), and the National Cage Bird Show (NCBS). I also lurk or participate in a wide variety of Internet discussion groups that pertain to finches and aviculture.