So through my months of searching I had managed to find 1 person in NSW that kept the Self Bengo named Bruce, which was disappointing to say the least. I had another look over the bird club listings that I had and started to scan over some of the clubs in other states. I was pleased to find that in Queensland there was a listing for The Bengalese Breeders Society.
When I got onto the club contact Tim he told me that the Club has since retired and there is not much of a following for the Self Bengo in Queensland these days in comparison to 10 years ago or so when there was a lot of interest. This again was a bit disappointing, however in speaking with Tim I discovered him to be a man that was notably passionate about the Self Bengalese Mannikin and I instantly found myself learning much on the topic just from our first conversation. It became clear that it was the fanciers in Queensland that had been responsible for much of the show Selfs that were getting around because they were quite popular through this state at the time. Tim told me that the only person that he is aware of still breeding the Self Bengo these days is a past member of the Bengalese Breeders Society named James.
This introduction with Tim flicked a switch with me and my existing interest in the Self Bengo became more solidified. I have always leaned towards keeping birds that are somewhat rare and although the Bengalese by nature would not be classed as "Rare" this strain of Bengo the Self was surely not a common bird at all and I quickly decided that as well as investing more energy into learning about this Finch (when I hadn't realised there was more to learn at all). I felt a drawing to help preserve the rare Self because I was learning how much work was put into establishing the bird in Australia only a few years ago.
