Thank you for taking the time to stop and look into my web site. I live in a beautiful location on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. The weather is sub tropical and very humid in our summer months from November to April. As a result of the high humidity, my birds do not hold their top condition for too long, making it much harder to have them just right for showing.
I have been breeding birds for over 35 years. As a young boy growing up in New England, Armidale in New South Wales, I began breeding homing pigeons for a number of years, and from there I became interested in Australian parrots. I was a member of the Queensland Police Service for 15 years, during which time I was stationed out in central Queensland. Many farmers soon found out that I was a breeder of parrots and my aviaries soon became the town’s hospital for many injured birds which were hit by trucks during the busy grain season. The parrots in their hundreds could be seen feeding along the side of the highway picking up the oats which had fallen from the trucks.
In 1990 I became interested in breeding and showing Australian budgerigars as I had left the open spaces of the country and returned to the Sunshine Coast. My attention was drawn to a number of open breeders of exhibition budgerigars living in Brisbane. After a number of meetings the Sunshine Coast Budgerigar Association was up and running. Like many beginners I fell into the trap of keeping too many colour varieties, and acquiring foundation stock from here there and everywhere, what a mess.
In 1995 I went into my own business, giving the birds up for a number of years. This time around, looking for foundation stock, I was not going to rush out and buy whatever. I had read a number of books and had learned from my mistakes. I would say the most informed book on breeding would have to be The Principles of Breeding by Prof. Davenport. The book covers the in-depth study of inbreeding and linebreeding. It is no longer in print but I was able to acquire my copy from the University of Qld.