For some time now, I have been working on a book that, in my opinion, has been greatly missing from the Polish market.

I want to create a publication devoted to the estrildid finches of Australia and Oceania, but not simply as a traditional species atlas. What matters most to me is showing just how diverse these birds are in aviculture and, above all, explaining where the different mutations come from and why they look the way they do.

The book will, of course, include species profiles, their natural coloration, differences between males and females, juvenile birds, distribution maps, and plenty of information useful to breeders. However, the largest part of the publication will be devoted to colour mutations and their combinations.

I want to show not only what a particular mutation looks like, but also explain what it actually changes in the plumage – what happens to eumelanin, pheomelanin and carotenoids, how structural colours are produced, and why two mutations can sometimes look very similar even though they work in completely different ways. There will also be comparisons between mutations, inheritance and breeding diagrams, as well as simple explanations of genetics, so that the book will also be easy to understand for people who are only beginning to explore this subject.

One of the most important parts of this book for me is the photographs of real birds from breeders’ aviaries. I am working with breeders from different countries who have kindly made their photographs available to me. Thanks to their support, I will be able to show not only popular varieties, but also rare mutations and combinations that are often difficult to find in ordinary books or atlases.

I do not want this publication to be based only on dry descriptions. I want readers to be able to open the book, see a particular mutation, compare it with another one, and immediately understand what has actually changed and why.