Jacarini fledgling?

22 Apr 2017, 18:06

I found this little guy on my aviary floor this morning. Looks rather "un-finch-like" to me so i'm guessing its a jacarini? It would explain their revolting behaviour of late!

Looks a little undercooked to me but I have never bred any of the sth american "finches" so maybe its okay. Its a warm night so i'm hoping he'll do alright. Its up the back hidden amongst the mulch and foliage.

22 Apr 2017, 18:27

toothlessjaws wrote: ↑22 Apr 2017, 18:06 I found this little guy on my aviary floor this morning. Looks rather "un-finch-like" to me so i'm guessing its a jacarini?

Bill shape/colour and over-all appearance say Jacarini to me...but I thought they normally fledged with lighter plumage than this little guy. It may be like you suspect, that he is a little underdone. If that rock behind him has been in the sun all day he should be OK if he stays where he is overnight.
Good luck with him/her tlj.

22 Apr 2017, 18:57

It is very typical of Jacarinis to fledge very underdone like this bloke. Rarely are they lost though - great parents.

22 Apr 2017, 19:07

Totally agree with Tiaris
They are tough as nails.

22 Apr 2017, 19:40

Thanks for the comments. I had a serious population crash of my fly farm colony on a hot day, had hardly any maggots to feed out. I was feeding some mealies from the aquarium but even that was done half heartedly in morning only and i missed a day here and there as I've been pumped for work at the moment. somehow they suddenly pop out a jacarini after not breeding ALL SUMMER and my orangebreast pair that i'd given up on entirely and moved into a rather busy holding aviary, pop out a clutch of four fully-feathered young (hopefully they are OB's - it occurred to me that there's two strawberry cocks sharing that holding aviary!

).

In any event got plenty of livefood on the go now so hopefully little Jack here will make it and its another species i can tick off my list!

22 Apr 2017, 19:56

Jacarinis are one species which is very adaptable to alternate livefood sources if ever your maggot supply has an interuption in future. Mealies are fine with them as are moths, spiders, crickets, etc.

22 Apr 2017, 20:19

Yup, I agree with the above comments - that's typical of how they look the day of fledging.

But in my experience the more live food you give them, for Jac's - mealworms was their food of choice, the more they had the more young per nest, mind you, best i had was 3 per nest, but that was common with unlimited mealies.

23 Apr 2017, 12:03

Little guy made it through the night okay. I wish i could say the same fro my orangebreasts - woke up to a neighbours %@#%*ing cat climbing the wire at the front of the cage - now only 3 fledglings

i can only assume it pulled one through the wire - though i can't find a shred of evidence.

24 Apr 2017, 11:34

toothlessjaws wrote: ↑23 Apr 2017, 12:03 Little guy made it through the night okay. I wish i could say the same fro my orangebreasts - woke up to a neighbours %@#%*ing cat climbing the wire at the front of the cage - now only 3 fledglings

i can only assume it pulled one through the wire - though i can't find a shred of evidence.

tlj, have you checked every nook and cranny in the aviary? I recall a similar incident many years ago and after scratching my head for a day, I decided to check behind the nest boxes to find a somewhat dehydrated juvenile zebby, rather flattened, but still alive. I thought it was dead until it blinked... I put it on the warm sandy floor near the water bath...it did nothing for quite a while then stretched its wings and flew to the perch as if nothing had happened. It is surprising where a panicked bird can end up.

25 Apr 2017, 12:19

starman wrote: ↑24 Apr 2017, 11:34 tlj, have you checked every nook and cranny in the aviary?.....

Thanks Starman, the night before last I heard my birds panicking in the holding aviary just as i was getting ready for bed. turned on teh light and saw a large rat scurry away along the fence line. Seeing a rat is nothing new - The house directly behind is a large weatherboard home which is uninhabited (and has been for years) and much to my chagrin, is a constant source of rats. However they never ordinarily bother the birds - I have never had any evidence of them in the holding aviary (the breeding aviary i build myself and is vermin proof) and they seem to just fight it out with the possums and bats for the rights to the large orange tree that grows up the back. I relatively regularly bait them. But i found it odd that one appeared to be bothering the birds. so i followed your suggestion today and sure enough found the orange breast fledgling - wedged in some bushes a partially devoured orange breast that can only be the work of the rat!

He's either getting in through 10mm wire or slipping under gap around the door frame which is slightly larger. Its definitely not digging under as i have 6mm wire floor underneath. The OB fledglings are prob 2 weeks old now - wondering if i should just remove all the birds and place in cabinets until i have the time to do some major renovations (or just build a new) aviary. The chicks are still begging for food but are quite large now and very well feathered. pretty sure parents are feeding mostly seed. As they have lost interest in the maggots.

I find rodents intolerable and to date have never had a problem with them in any of the cages i've built myself.