Welcome to the National Finch & Softbill Society

This website features a partial collection of articles on finches & softbills that have been published in the NFSS Journal over our 30 plus year history. Some of the articles are magnificent journeys into breeding rooms of some of the best breeders in Aviculture today, while some are a bit more rustic and provide some useful basic information on the keeping and breeding of many of the finches & softbills being kept by breeders across the United States. Some of the early articles were written long before spell check was invented and are crude copies of typed pages, while others are state of the art material published in what is now America’s leading specialty club publication, the NFSS Journal.

The National Finch & Softbill Society is a nonprofit organization as described in section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code – we are a hobbyist organization dedicated to the conservation, breeding, exhibiting and enjoyment of finches & softbills.

The National Finch & Softbill Society is dedicated to promoting the enjoyment of keeping and breeding finches & softbills to all interested parties, enhancing our knowledge of the proper care of these birds, encouraging breeding programs and working with other organizations for the preservation of aviculture. Founded in 1984, the NFSS has members representing the U.S. and several countries around the world.

Join the NFSS … and you will receive the NFSS Journal (formerly called the NFSS Bulletin) publication. The Journal is our way of sharing information with our members. A high quality and informative publication, the Journal is full of great articles on many subjects of interest to the bird enthusiast. The coverage of the Journal strives to be balanced among the interests of our society members and includes regular features on keeping and caring for birds, breeding, banding, showing, avian medicine and legislation affecting aviculture. Members only are also entitled to purchase aluminum, numbered yearly NFSS Leg Bands.

The NFSS and Affiliated Clubs sponsor several shows around the country each year, and we hold our annual meeting in conjunction with the National Cage Bird show. Many of the NFSS Judges are available for judging of local shows.

A bit about our history…

The NFSS was founded out of frustration. Frustration realized by the lack of respect given to breeders and exhibitors of some of the most wonderful birds in Aviculture. That, and the lack of educational materials available to the finch & softbill hobbyist, is what lead to the formation of the North East Finch Society. News traveled quickly as leading breeders around the country asked that we include them by going national, thus the National Finch & Softbill Society came into being.

One of the first things we did was to publish a newsletter. It was a little rough around the edges but did the job. It was written, assembled and mailed from the living rooms of a few dedicated hard working individuals with a goal of taking finch & softbill breeders and exhibitors to the forefront of the bird world. In just a few years the NFSS had leg banding in place, an accredited Judges Panel, an Affiliated Club program and Finch Save, the first record keeping Finch preservation program in the world. The NFSS is in attendance at the American Federation of Aviculture Conference and the National Cage Bird Show annually.

Today the NFSS leads the specialty club world with what most call the most professional publication in Aviculture with contributing authors from around the nation and around the world. Early contributors such as Phil Shaw, Dr. Val Clear, Hal Koontz and many others who had lead the way to educating our members. We have many to thank for the success of our publication including the many editors we have had over the years.

We hope you find the educational materials included on our website and our Complete Electronic Archive of Journals helpful member endeavors. We would also like to thank you and all the people over the years that have helped the NFSS and Aviculture in general for making all this possible.

Regards,
Bill Parlee
NFSS Founder
President Emeritus