Nest inspection - how much risk is involved?

[BrettB]

I am the first to admit that I know nothing about raising Gouldians. Having read a lot there seems to be very diverse views about the risks of nest inspections. One could argue that even if the risk of abandonment is low, why take even a small risk? However, there is considerable enjoyment to be had from watching the young birds develop, and if the risk is negligible, why deprive yourself of that enjoyment.

With these questions in mind I was fascinated to read the experimental methods employed by Sarah Pryke in her research on Gouldians. I will quote a few excepts for this article http://sarahpryke.com/wp-content/upload ... .-2011.pdf, which outline the amount of nest interference involved in doing the research.

Nests were checked each morning and all new eggs weighed,
measured, and identified by pencil markings. Each egg was
weighed (0.01 g) and measured (0.1 mm), and egg volume calculated
as 0.51[length × breadth2] (Hoyt 1979). Thirteen days after
the first egg had been laid, nests were inspected four times a day
to determine which chick hatched from which egg, and all chicks
were individually marked (nail-clipping). One to two days after
hatching (mean ± SD = 1.3 ± 0.4 days), all broods were crossfostered

Foster nestlings were weighed every second day until nestlings
were 16 days old (using an electronic balance 0.01 g) and on the
day they fledged (left) the nest (range = 18–29 days old).

As you can see this research involves an extraordinary amount of nest interference, and yet no chicks in this research were abandoned.
Survival of chicks from hatching to sexual maturity was 75 % (329 birds from a total of 504 hatched)

I would be interested in the opinions of experienced Gouldian breeders on these figures.
Does anyone have an explanation for the low rate of abandonment?

Cheers
Brett

[Tiaris]

Gouldians are domesticated & will tolerate nest inspections very well.

[finches247]

I hardly check my Gouldians nests.They Dont worry much.I also dont check often as puts me in a habit to check all birds nest.

[shaunh]

I check my goulds once maybe twice a week and they are fine with it.

[Tintola]

Gouldian nests I check daily, most parents just stay on the eggs or young and I have to push them aside to see how they are going. I want to know if there are any dead or failure to thrive young in a nest and do something about it. The only nests I don't inspect are the Wompoo Pigeons and the Spinifex Pigeons or anything else that is a first time breeder that I don't know what the reaction is going to be. Many a young bird has been saved and lost by interference. The trick is to know if and when to do it.

[garyh]

I agree with Tintola,nest inspections are a must for me,i check for eggs being laid to when they first hatch,then start checking every second day after about day six,i find most gouldians except this and this is one of the joys of keeping them,watching the young grow is fantastic ,better than watching a nest in a bush not knowing if the young are dead or alive imo,garyh

[MadHatter]

Sarah Pryke's colony Is not as domesticated as most gouldians you find in captivity, as they are sourced from more recently wild-caught stocks (some chappie had illegally trapped them and got caught. Not sure exactly why they weren't repatriated to the wild, but I'm certain it would have been due to being unable to identify where each bird was trapped in order to return it to familiar territory, or perhaps their disease status was deemed to have been compromised.)

[vettepilot_6]

Although all good reasons to inspect...I would think it becomes a habit hard to get out of....I dont inspect unless absolutely necessary...Goulds are tolerant like Zebs and Societies....but if you get into the habit of inspecting you may loose more timid species such as Stars or Diamonds etc...

[MadHatter]

Vettepilot is absolutely right. Whether or not, and how often, you do nest inspections should be decided on a case-by-case basis, depending on the species and the history of the pair of birds in question.

As an aside, I don't think it's a coincidence that gouldians, along with other hollow-nesting species (such as most of the parrots) are very tolerant of nest inspections. It seems to me that, due to the nature of their chosen nest sites, there has never been any selective pressure on them to evolve an abandonment response to nest interference.

[pdg]

Vettepilot is absolutely right. Whether or not, and how often, you do nest inspections should be decided on a case-by-case basis, depending on the species and the history of the pair of birds in question.

As an aside, I don't think it's a coincidence that gouldians, along with other hollow-nesting species (such as most of the parrots) are very tolerant of nest inspections. It seems to me that, due to the nature of their chosen nest sites, there has never been any selective pressure on them to evolve an abandonment response to nest interference.

I agree with the first quote, but like to ad something to your aside Madhatter.

But since we (in aviculture) are the ones now who can chose the selective pressure, we can make species that are not so tolerant to nest inspection a little to much more tolerant of nest inspection - also for non-hollow-nesting species. Evolution always continues, even in our aviculture, but in this case we are selecting, not nature and therefore we can - mostly within the boundaries of certain natural predispositions - try to make birds more tolerant of nest inspection. Although I want to stress that what I am saying is only in addition to what Madhatter has said - there's always the particular, individual, unique circumstances. And also very important: know your bird; that is, your species and your indivdual birds and interact with them!
In Europe, people have to ring their native European birds (and non-native ones when doing shows) when their young are a certain age. This means you have to at least inspect the nest 2 or 3 consecutive days to be sure that alle birds are rung properly. If not, you are keeping the unrung birds illegally. Because of that cultural selective pressure these species have become at least a bit more tolerant towards nest inspection.
I bred linnets before I came to Australia. These birds are pretty shy and easily frightened. I was always worried I might lose the nest when I did my first inspection. But in the end the birds never abandoned their nests. But again: it requires a lot of species knowledge and individual bird observation to be able to chose the day of your first inspection, right time of the day, not wash your hands with soap (!!) but with the same materials the nest was built with when you want to touch the eggs, use a mirror, use a light pen to check if the eggs are fertilised,...etc...

Answer to original question:
I think in general gouldians do tolerate nest inspections very well; or have been selected by us to tolerate them. I inspect their nests every day. But you always have to keep in mind what Madhatter said: the consequences of the inspections will be depends on a lot of factors.