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My name is Kathy Miller. I am a "housewife"
or in other words, full time bird person. I'm
married with 2 children. I live in Gilbert, Az.,
a suburb of Phoenix.

I've had a bird or two most of my life. The
hobby has really taken off in the past 4 or 5
years.

Today, I have more than 100 birds.

They included such finches as Gouldians,
Lavenders, Cordon Bleus, Owls, Shafttails,
Diamond Sparrows, Star finches, Scarlet
Chested Parakeets, European Goldfinches
and Canaries. I also have 5 larger pet birds.
They include a parakeet, Senegal, Eclectus,
Cockatoo and a Cockatiel. My hobby has
given me many hours of enjoyment.

I have combined my love of art with
my love of birds. I painted the indoor
aviaries with scenes of nature and
birds. The outdoor aviaries include
gazebos and decorative enclosures
surrounded by gardens, waterfalls,
walkways with benches, swings and
eating areas. It is a true escape into
an extravagant nature center. I have
made all of the aviaries myself with
only an occasional helping hand
from my husband, Mike.

I do sell and trade birds. If
interested please contact me.
The purpose of this website is not
to sell, but rather to share ideas
and information with other
hobbyists.

We enjoy the babies and love to
find good homes for all of them.
However, I do not mail birds and
am hesitant to do so.

My mother, Dotty (below) and I
have enjoyed this hobby together.
She has most of the same types
of finches but none of the larger
birds.

I offer many of the pictures shown
in this web site as cards. I also
love to make cards of other
people's pets. If interested please
contact me.

Egg food recipe- When I first got
into the business of raising birds, I
tried all sorts of egg food recipes.
Either they were too difficult to
make or the birds wanted nothing
to do with them.

I would like to share my recipe
that solved this problem for me.
Simply, 1 hard boiled egg with one
tablespoon of soy protein powder
with vitamins, minerals and
enzymes already in it. This can be
purchased at Trader Joe's and
most health food stores. I use a
fork and mush together.

I'm looking for input to make this
web site more exciting.

Please send pictures of your birds,
aviaries, recipes, etc. to the e-mail
address above.

The Ladygouldianfinch.com site
features two articles that I've
written.

One is under aviary of the month.
You might have to look back into
previous months to locate it.

The other is a handfeeding article.
It includes 4 movies of our tame
finches. They require more down
load time but are definitly worth it
to see these tame little ones.

Just 5 of my many birds- left to
right- Lady Gouldian Finch, owl
finch, Scarlet Chested Parakeet,
Diamond Sparrow and Canary.

Shafttails (above) are my favorite
finches. They are very calm,
talkative (bird language only) and
inquisitive. The male is on the
right. He has a darker beak.
However, that is not an indication
of sex but rather different species
of Shafttails. You should not mix
different beak shades for breeding
purposes.

I've read that bib size is an
indicator of sex but find that not to
be at all reliable. The male has a
beautiful song. That is the best
way to sex them.

Mealworms are a favorite of
several species of finches. The
Cordon Bleus and Shaftails
consider this a real treat. I have
not found Gouldians to ever touch
them. Societies love them during
breeding season. Often they
must get accustomed to eating
live food at a young age. If they
watch other birds eating them,
they will usually take to them.
Most birds squish out the inside of
the worm leaving the hard outer
covering. You might mistakenly
think they are not eating the
worms.

I grow my own meal worms.( I find
the quality is better than you can
buy). To do this, I have a three
drawer plastic storage unit,
approximately 2 feet high. Each
drawer is 1/2 full of bran.
(purchased at feed store)

I try to keep one drawer with
worms, one with the beetle stage
and one with the eggs waiting to
hatch. I feed them diced turnips or
sweet potatoes. The worm drawer
seems to need the most food in it.
As one drawer is almost out of
worms, I let the remaining ones
turn into beetles and I start using
the next drawer and thus the
cycle continues.

Keep in a cool location.

Cordon Bleus are my mother's
favorite finches. They too, have a
beautiful song. The hand raised
cordon bleus make great pets.
They love to cuddle. A nap in
your hand is a treat for you and
the bird.

Above-This is a picture of Noelle
Fontaine's back yard. This a
playground for her large birds.
She has several Macaws. This is
a sign of a truly devoted bird
person! If you would like to
contact her regarding the
enrichment of birds lives or other
large bird issues, you can at
macaws@cox.net

Java Rice Finch-This is a picture
of my Java Rice named Billy. (for
his big bill) I only have one Java
Rice. I do not recommend these
birds in a mixed collection of
small finches. Because Billy is
the only Java, he has never been
disruptive to my finches.
However, several Java's will gang
up on other birds.

Billy was hand raised and
therefore probably has a calmer
personality.