Good Quality Hecks Longtails

Yellow Billed and Red Billed (Hecks)
Includes Species Profiles
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Myzomela
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Hi all,

When I was a kid growing up one of my first finch books was Breeding Finches in Colour by WD Noreen ( I think). It was just a paperback, my edition has a gouldian photo on the front.

One of the photos in the book was of a pair of Hecks Longtails. The photo depicts a chocolate brown bird with a blue-grey head and red bill.

So when I actually saw my first longtails in the flesh I was quite disappointed by the pale colours on the birds I saw.

I had since deduced that the photo reproduction in the book was inaccurate. Or was it??

A short while ago I had the pleasure of seeing some birds which struck me with the richness of their colours.
These legally wild-caught birds originated from Derby, WA and were almost as bright as that photo I saw all those years ago. I had never seen such brightly coloured longtails before.
I am continuously amazed by the variation in colours in different populations of the same species, whether it be finches, parrots or softbills.

Have others seen the type of bird I am talking about? If so, any been seen recently?
Cheers
Myzo
Research; evaluate;observe;act
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Jayburd
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now I come to think of it, longtails are very pale compared to wild trapped birds a long time ago (which I've seen in books)... you might be onto something here...
Julian

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Feel free to check out my photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewinsrail/
And my birding antics here: http://worthtwointhebushbirding.blogspot.com.au/
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GregH
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Nature or Nurture? This might reflect geographic variants or it could be diet related. The long-tails I've seen around Wyndham are about the same as the ones in my aviary (apart from the fact that mine have red beaks).
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desertbirds
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There are also photos of very brightly coloured Stars from the Kimberley on the forum.Maybe the northern birds in some species are more brightly coloured than there southern cousins.Longtails, Stars and Redbrows would be a few examples.
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Jayburd
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here's a ink showing just how variable heck's can be http://cliftonfinchaviaries.org/cfa/tails/tails.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Julian

Birdwatcher and finch-keeper.

Feel free to check out my photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewinsrail/
And my birding antics here: http://worthtwointhebushbirding.blogspot.com.au/
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Myzomela
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I agree that it is geography-related, but Wyndham is north of Derby so it's not just a north vs south variation.

Other examples are the diggles, parsons and their "chocolate" forms.

And Greg's comment re diet may also be valid- some birds lose their colour over time in captivity- some over just a single moult, others over generations.
Yet others retain their bright colours. I'm not sure where this population of Hecks fits in.
Perhaps some of the more experienced keepers out there can comment.
Research; evaluate;observe;act
natamambo
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I'm picking this thread up again to provide info on my situation. I have 3 pairs (all pearls or splits) in separate flights side by side. One pair is in with crimson chats. As part of their daily feed the chats (naturally) get maggots which the long tails have learned to take and yesterday were ferrying to some very loud squawks in the nest box - our very first longtail young after 20 years of on and off keeping them.

Also fed daily to the chats is cake with a crushed tablet of spirulina in it. I gave had to double the amount.of cake I was supplying as the longtails have started taking it as well, also in large quantities for bubbas as well as for themselves. The pair in the chat flight has recently become distinctly brighter than the pairs in the other flights in recent weeks. Given that brown and red are made from the same carotene (Astaxanthin) I'm beginning to think diet plays a part.

The one component of the chat diet I have never managed to replicate is ruby salt bush berries, nurseries down here just don't seem to keep the plants. Perhaps someone familiar with the parts of WA in this discussion can comment whether or not the salt bush is more prevalent in areas where said birds are brighter colours.

Needless to say, I'm about to start making spirulina part of the diet of the other flights as well. Will try to remember to update in few months.

Edit: browns are mostly made of melanin of course but some of the reading I have done has suggested that carotenes can influence the colour of the browns, that's my basic assumption as to what's happening with the longtails given the response to spirulina in the birds' colouring.
Last edited by natamambo on 13 May 2012, 16:22, edited 1 time in total.
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Craig52
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Needless to say, I'm about to start making spirulina part of the diet of the other flights as well. Will try to remember to update in few months.[/quote]


Natamambo Hi,I've been using spirulina for some years now as it was reccomended as a colour enhancer for when i had crimson chats and it does work.As the chats were in a mixed collection of finches,including Hecks Longtails,it did inhance the colour of them as well becomming slightly darker in body plumage as well as making the hecks's bills more wax red.
I know this is a bit off topic as i know there is no Spirulina in desert Australia,but as you say there may be another plant/food in the wild that can inhance colour in certain area's for a tribe of a particular of a specie
PS, if you go to a health food shop,you can buy out of date spirulina for less than half price. :silent: Cheers Craig
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Dimar
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Hi guys
I have a curiosity about longtails, perhaps it could fit into this yopic.
Books tell that yb longtail is found in the northwestern while Heck's longtail in the north of Australia, and where the two forms meet they interbreed and give an orange billed form. Is there any study about these populations, e.g. which one of the three forms is more consistent? How many birds are yb, rb and ob? How large is the area where ob longtails can be found?
BTW also here in Europe spirulina is well known for enhancing brown and fawn tones of plumage.

ciao
Dimar
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Danny
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natamambo wrote:I'm picking this thread up again to provide info on my situation. I have 3 pairs (all pearls or splits) in separate flights side by side. One pair is in with crimson chats. As part of their daily feed the chats (naturally) get maggots which the long tails have learned to take and yesterday were ferrying to some very loud squawks in the nest box - our very first longtail young after 20 years of on and off keeping them.

Also fed daily to the chats is cake with a crushed tablet of spirulina in it. I gave had to double the amount.of cake I was supplying as the longtails have started taking it as well, also in large quantities for bubbas as well as for themselves. The pair in the chat flight has recently become distinctly brighter than the pairs in the other flights in recent weeks. Given that brown and red are made from the same carotene (Astaxanthin) I'm beginning to think diet plays a part.

The one component of the chat diet I have never managed to replicate is ruby salt bush berries, nurseries down here just don't seem to keep the plants. Perhaps someone familiar with the parts of WA in this discussion can comment whether or not the salt bush is more prevalent in areas where said birds are brighter colours.

Needless to say, I'm about to start making spirulina part of the diet of the other flights as well. Will try to remember to update in few months.

Edit: browns are mostly made of melanin of course but some of the reading I have done has suggested that carotenes can influence the colour of the browns, that's my basic assumption as to what's happening with the longtails given the response to spirulina in the birds' colouring.
Spirulina doesn't provide any specific pigment in its end stage - it does however provide a dozen or more in their precursor state allowing the bird to use only what it needs - red birds will use canthaxanthin precursors whilst yellow birds will use xanthine precursors. The beauty of it is you can colour improve red and yellow birds in the same aviary. Be careful how much you use - too much can lead to digestive upsets.
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