Suspended Aviaries for Scarlet Honeyeater

[SamDavis]

So Tint and Danny, you're not suspenders men by the sound of it (Oops - I meant suspendeds).

I like Ripley's idea of rotating flowering shrubs. If I hear correctly it sounds like he'll have a whole bunch of mini shrubs in a greenhouse and he'll be able to trick them into flowering all year round. My understanding of wild scarlet honeyeaters is that they follow the flowering shrubs, so this idea should be spot on.

A few thoughts on the issue based on my experience albeit with non-softbills.
1. Most species will breed better as a single pair in their own personal aviary.
2. The smaller the aviary the easier it is to control the environment in terms of temperature, rain, predators and disease.
3. Watching birds in small aviaries (or worse still cabinets) is boring as they can't express their full range of behaviours.
4. If a pair of birds in a suspended aviary is breeding does that imply they are happy? Maybe, Yes, No - I'm unsure of the answer.
5. The purpose of suspended aviaries is to keep the crap away from the birds. A single pair of scarlet honeyeaters is hardly going to generate much crap.

Putting all that together means....
Maybe small conventional aviaries and by small I’m thinking about 3m X 1m for each pair. Would that work?
Ripley can then sip his scotch whilst watching and breeding scarlets, and growing and rotating flowering bonsai till his heart's content!

[Ripley]

Hello All,

I'm taking everyones advise & comments seriously....and Craig I agree to lose a pair of birds by being stubborn would be a tragedy....As I said, in the first posting I am looking for adequate alternatives to building large aviaries. I guess reading back my subsequent posts, it appears that I have dug my heals in and will only have suspendeds...I can assure you I haven't...But I still will research & develop my thoughts & discuss it with as many people I can and then make an informed decision when it comes time.

I hope this now has calmed people down, that i'm not making rash decisions based on being pig headed & proud....

Cheers
Ripley

[desertbirds]

So Tint and Danny, you're not suspenders men by the sound of it (Oops - I meant suspendeds).

I like Ripley's idea of rotating flowering shrubs. If I hear correctly it sounds like he'll have a whole bunch of mini shrubs in a greenhouse and he'll be able to trick them into flowering all year round. My understanding of wild scarlet honeyeaters is that they follow the flowering shrubs, so this idea should be spot on.

The Black Honeyeaters here are the same, they follow the flowers and are highly nomadic, meaning they are very active little birds and accustomed to covering reasonable distances. As far as viewing the birds goes, theres no substitute for watching them go about their business in an environment that is full of enrichment and some room.

[Tiaris]

Yes DB, they cover more than a reasonable distance - more like hundreds of kilometres each year up & down the east coast & constantly on the go whilst in an area for a couple of months. Really, to even contemplate this species as a breeding prospect when a much larger aviary is not an option is verging on cruelty for such an active species. There is plenty of first-hand unambiguous advice already in this thread from eminently experienced softbill breeders which clearly points to the fact that under your current circumstances this is not the way to approach a first attempt at this species. Even if you do everything perfectly, Murphy's Law rears it's ugly head all too often. The wrong approach from the start virtually guarantees Murphy will be living in your suspended aviaries.

[Tintola]

Just moving away from the honey-eaters in suspendeds for a moment as not much else can be said, a reference was made about them following the flowering trees up and down the coast. For some birds a nomadic life is not a genetically driven behaviour but a survival necessity. Just because they do it, doesn't mean they they have to do it. Some birds that are seasonal in some areas stay put all year if the food supply does not dry up. Migration can be driven by cold (lack of warmth and food), drought (lack of water), extreme seasons (lack of food and light), or sometimes so many generations have been doing it that it is genetically driven. My point is that even the ones where migration is a powerful force, can survive, thrive and breed if food, shelter, water are supplied.

[Tiaris]

The wild Scarlet Honeyeaters are a perfect example of this. In Spring literally hundreds of them move into this area coinciding with flowering eucalypts. As the breeding season commences about a month after they arrive here, a small proportion of the migrating population remains in our locality to breed for a couple of rounds, whilst the bulk of the population move further north to follow flowering peaks of nectar bearing trees in other regions.

[SamDavis]

We only see a few pairs moving through here. Some months ago I recall spotting the odd pair feeding in our grevilleas alongside the eastern spinebills. must have been Autumn, so I presume it was cooling down and they were moving north.

Surely it will be beneficial if Ripley can provide a constant rotation of appropriate in-flower bonsai shrubs year round. I suppose the aviary will need decent protection given they move north over winter. I recall at San Diego zoo they had heat lamps in all their hummingbird aviaries (and most other aviaries) and they also covered the roof and much of the sides in plastic during winter - and this was california.

[desertbirds]

I believe the Black Honeyeaters here follow flowering eramophilas and other flowering plants,as Tiaris mentioned they do cover hundreds of k`s , in their case they would need to so to survive.

[Diane]

Even the common New Holland Honeyeaters seem to follow the flowering of the eramophilas in the garden. The yellow ones one in the garden are just about ready to flower again so Im sure the birds will follow shortly.

[desertbirds]

Local eramophilas . just about to burst.