Welcome to the Country, Goldfinch

Once a creature has been introduced and settled in to a new environment, there must come a time when they are regarded as part of the local ecology. I heard a scientist say that even Cane Toads have caused no harm to native frogs – and the predators that die eating the poisonous critters soon learn to avoid them or at least avoid the poisonous bits. This is an introduction to my opinion that I don’t mind the European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis). A cheerful whistle, bright colours and causing no obvious harm, these English songsters are a happy find when I’m out in nature.

The name finch is given to birds that have a heavy triangular beak and eat seeds. Worldwide the group is complex and vast with many birds granted the name and many other finches being called something else. These finch-type birds are usually very social (congregating in flocks except for the breeding period), colourful and cheerful. Australian finches (Estrildidae – a different family) are represented only by the Red-browed firetail in central Victoria, while the introduced ‘finches’ include the House Sparrow, the Greenfinch and the Goldfinch.

A farmer once told me how he shot 7 sparrows with one shotgun cartridge – he put out some wheat and had the gun poking through a hole in the shearing shed at the line of House Sparrows that came to eat it. I have other friends that call all introduced birds ‘weeds’. I certainly feel little love for the Common Miner or the Starling but there comes a point where the creatures and plants naturalised in an environment have to be accepted and respected, albeit controlled if they are causing damage.

We all live on the one small planet and while every arrival and introduction causes some disruption and anxiety in a place, these changes cannot be reversed easily. Attempts to control horses, deer, feral cats, fire-ants, black berries, rats, wheel cactus or serrated tussock are undoubtedly important but costly and difficult. However, some introductions seem to cause little harm and perhaps we then need to trust in nature’s capacity to adapt and accommodate. I regard the Goldfinch as a pleasant newcomer not a weed.