Page 18 - SOMOS FOA #7
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Our
Friends
In the Netherlands we also have young bree- canaries. Together the study will be 4 years,
ders, but a large part of our members (NBvV) so I can say our judges are very experienced.
are already grey and old. Maybe we are a bit
spoiled in the Netherlands. We have an fe- In a year without corona I’m doing about 15
deration (Nederlandse Bond van Vogellie- to 20 judging sessions all over the Nether-
fhebbers) with 410 associations. There is one lands and Germany. Beside this about 4 to 6
association in almost every township in the judging appointments all over the world. I’m
Netherlands. Each association organizes its possible to do this because I’m already reti-
own exhibition every year. Then there will be red in 2016 (after working 40 years as police
a district exhibition, totally 12 and then fo- officer). For the job of board member of COM
llowed by the National Championship. At the I have to do also some supervisor tasks, the
National championship, around 13.000 birds amount is depending of the number of COM
are present in the competition. Besides this shows in the world. We are trying to arran-
show we have Special Club shows. For exam- ge that everyone have a few. It seems to be
ple, only for colour canaries or for finches or nice trips, but don’t forget it is mostly 2 days
for parakeets. What we are seeing now is that flight and 1 day present during the judging
the local associations are shrinking and dimi- day.
nishing a bit because young people are not
joining. I’m breeding with about 45 couples of birds.
Most of them are colour en Posture canaries.
The board members of the federation are I breed with Agate opal in yellow and white,
all volunteers, but we do have an office who brown opal white, agate opal mosaiek, agate
have paid employees. At the moment we are cobalt and agate pastel mosaiek. In Postu-
producing our rings ourself, but this chan- re I have Münchener, Irish Fancy, Fife Fancy,
ged. We are ordering the rings now from Ar- Berner and Gloster. Next to this I have a few
gentina. We produced 1.2 million rings of al finches (Bull finch, spinus). My whole family
kind of diameter. I’m vice-President of this is breeding with birds. So it take a little time
Dutch federation. to feed and clean everything.
We have a group of 110 judges, a part of them What do I like in my hobby? Of course the
(about 45) is also OMJ judge for COM. In the birds they are fascinating. It is a privilege to
Netherland a judge have to pass examens. interact with and care for live animals. it is
Before doing examens they have to follow a nice to see that care is showing results be-
course of 2 or 3 years. To become a colour cause young birds are growing up in the bre-
canary judge, you must first demonstrate edingroom. Not commercial but for hobby.
that you have kept birds for at least 5 years It is also fantastic to interact with people.
with which you have also achieved results at There are so many different people, each
a show. Then follows an entry-level exam and with their own character, involved with birds
then 2 years of training, with side sessions and of course you will agree each person is
with an experienced judge (minimum 5 per special. That makes being a board member
year). After the study of 2 years you do an an honourable but responsible one. I have
exam. Depending on the result, you may fo- always loved dealing with people, especially
llow further training, for example for posture people from other cultures. I have lived and
18 Federación Ornitológica Argentina
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