Mike and Elisabeth Fidler

Chief Executive Officers

Martinsville, NSW

Mike is a retired businessman (at least most of the time)

Mike is a world-renowned aviculturist and long-time Gouldian lover whose interest in Gouldian finches started well over 40 years ago when he first saw these bright and engaging birds in the window of a local pet shop in England. Mike mastered the difficulties of breeding Gouldians in captivity and regularly bred in excess of 3000 birds annually. His interest in the Gouldian finch also extends to their natural environment, and over the past 25 years he has regularly visited and worked with them in the wild. Upon retirement in 2002, Mike and Elisabeth moved to Australia where they spend much of their time raising awareness and working with and donating money to conservation agencies and research in order to save the Gouldian finch. They are both passionate about reversing the dramatic decline of these birds in the wild and restoring them to their former numbers.

David Myers

Communications Manager

Newcastle, NSW

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David is a retired school teacher

David’s interest in breeding Australian native finches started as a teenager and hasn't abated – even during his university days and the 18 years of playing first-grade cricket. During the 1980’s David was involved with an evolutionary ecology study with CSIRO aimed at recording and analysing the identity calls and the courtship songs of all Australian finch species. During this project David successfully bred all recognised species and subspecies of Australian finches, becoming the first person to breed both the Beautiful and Red-eared Firetails (both rare species) in captivity. In addition to being one of the foundation executive members of the National Finch and Softbill Association in Australia, he is currently working on a captive breeding program for the Beautiful Firetail. David has an ongoing interest in environmental education and is currently monitoring a recently discovered wild population of Beautiful Firetails in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales.

Richard Law

Administration Manager

Maitland, NSW

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Richard is a retired school principal

Richard’s love of birds developed as a young boy helping his father to look after his birds. He received his first birds for his tenth birthday and has kept a variety of bird species for the past 43 years. He has bred normal Gouldian Finches housed on a colony system in aviaries for the past 32 years and feels that he has a very pure strain, totally free from any mutations. He now specialises in breeding Gouldians and has kept them exclusively for the past 12 years. He is currently focussed on developing a strain of show quality birds from his aviary bred stock. Over the years Richard has held executive positions in a number of avicultural clubs and societies in Sydney and Taree. Since moving to Maitland he has attended two Save The Gouldian Finch Open Days and was inspired to make a contribution to the conservation of this bird that has given him so much pleasure for so many years.

Chris Baker

Communications Assistant

Northern Tablelands, NSW

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Chris is a wildlife artist

Chris grew up in Australia and New Zealand with a keen interest in the wildlife around him. Growing up he kept a varied and unusual menagerie of pets including Blue-tongued lizards, Bearded dragons, Golden bell frogs, Magpies and even a possum. He also developed a particular love for raptors from their regular visits to his father’s collection of racing pigeons! He currently keeps a few Gouldians in his collection of finches and parrots. He is particularly interested in threatened parrot species facing decline in the wild. Chris’ life-long fascination for birdlife inspired his interest in art – initially through paint, but in recent years he has combined painting with wooden and ceramic sculptures. Chris has always wanted to help with wildlife conservation of endangered species (especially as a knee injury now limits him ‘going bush’), and after a donation a few years ago, he has steadily become more involved with the Fund.