Babies Froze

[lyn2233]

Hi, I went away on Wed and came back to-day and found my 4 star babies that we ready to fledge in about a week all frozen in the nest. Quite upsetting to see, I thought the parents would be in the nest with them unless it was a bit crowed. I have another nest with babies in and not sure whether to take them out and bring them in at night to a heating pad? Does anyone know if they will stop breeding during the winter? My daughter said last night here (Sutherland shire) was REALLY cold. Thanks

[SamDavis]

I've got stars fledging at present so although it's been cold it's not too cold for stars - I suspect my place would be a bit colder than Sutherland.
Are you sure the nest wasn't disturbed by those feeding whilst you've been away?

[vettepilot_6]

I would agree with Sam as a new person feeding them may have made them desert as Stars are very wary of anything...

[Tiaris]

I'm from a warmer spot than Sutherland too, but a few mornings ago I also lost a clutch of 4 young Stars through the cold evening/early morning. Full crops, well developed for age but stone cold & dead as you can get.

[lyn2233]

Thanks for your replies, my aviary is 10 mtrs long so nobody came in to feed them as I have huge seed feeders and a watering system. These two stars have had quite a few years and they have had quite a few clutches so far with no problems at all. They have never deserted the nest before so I am suspect it must have been the cold. Do stars in the wild still breed in the winter???

[vettepilot_6]

I don't know about the wild but I would suspect it would coincide with a flush of seeding grasses and insects....but given the right conditions they will breed at anytime..

[matcho]

I have had some stars come out in the past couple of weeks. Some were so underdone it was like watching half nude goulds which you could put back in the nest with no worries. Because they were stars, and being so pedantic I decided to let nature take its course. Out of the 4 three are good, where the other went, I'm not sure, no doubt it will turn up when the brush is being changed later in the year. I live in Leichhardt and it is just about the same temp as southern surburbs of Sydney. My saving grace, I suppose is that my aviary is enclosed with clear perspex which tends to keep wet weather and some cold out. My stars are now starting to give me the sh..ts because they are now becoming like zebs, the goulds are being harassed by them for nesting places. Go figure! Plenty of greens eg dandelion and any seeding grass seems to do the trick plus sprouted seed. Good luck Lynn, they will come good.

regards

Matcho