Nest boxes revisited...

[cranberry]

Hi folks,

I'm a bit confused about some of the finch nest boxes I've seen at bird dealers for sale and which ones are suitable for which species. I've seen the smallish wooden ones with a hole in the front which they classify as "finch" nest boxes and then there is the next size up which are the budgie boxes. The confusion comes when people say that such and such a finch prefers a budgie box instead of a finch box e.g. Gouldians

The question is, how would I know what each species prefers. Is it OK to put budgie boxes in for all of them or are the small "finch" ones the way to go no matter what species?

Does anyone know what these species prefer:

Gouldians
Painted Finch (Emblemas)
Blue Faced Parrot Finch
Double Bars
African Fires (Ruddies)
Star Finches
Orange Breasted Waxbills
St Helenas

I've seen different answers all over the net, some of them conflicting.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Tony

[gomer]

from the list of Australian finches you have there.From my experiance only the gouldian has used boxes.
these are the two types i supply,One of each per pair of nest box using finches.

PC050886.jpg

PC050878.jpg

[Diane]

At the moment my gouldians are in nesting boxes, they had a choice of a smaller one and the "this is for gouldians" one they chose the gouldian one each time. Just like the boxes in gomers 2nd pic, the ones with the numbers on.
My ruddies and emblemas insist on nesting in the brush fencing on the back wall.



Here is a link to the topic we had quite a long discussion about including lots of pics
I am in the process of making some of the nests in this topic.
viewtopic.php?f=75&t=300

[cranberry]

Thanks for that. So do the other finches just build their own or use a different type of nest?

[gomer]

My stars, blueface,owls and emblemas.Make their own nests in brush.

PC050881.jpg

[Pete Sara]

Gouldians use nest boxes like gomer has shown
Painted Finch (Emblemas) love to build there own
Blue Faced Parrot Finch will use a gould box or wicker basket the bibber the better
Double Bars build there own
African Fires (Ruddies) will use wicker an build there own
Star Finches wicker and build there own
Orange Breasted Waxbills will prefer to build there own
St Helenas never had them so i can not give you my advice there.. in most case they will will breed in what ever you make available if you cant get brush like gomer has shown try some chook wire with lucern hay stuffed in , have had a few finches go nuts in there......pete p.s with the wicker baskets dont scrimp and get the little ones . will work for ruddies and orange breasts. but think of it this way would you like to live in a cupboard or use the whole room.....me

[cranberry]

Fantastic advice. Thanks so much. I just had a look around my backyard and realised I have heaps of pine trees and pittosporum. Could that be used as brush even though they are non-native?

[Will_36]

I've been using Melaleuca branch in my Aviary.
Adelaide has thousands of shrubs around the place.
Lucky I have about 50 shrubs only 400m away so its easy for me to get.
here is a picture. Its a bit dry in this photo.



Hope this helps.

[cranberry]

Thanks for all the help. I really appreciate it.

I've kind of settled on this setup:

- 2 shelves at the back at different heights (one high, another higher) to put 10 or so nest boxes for whoever wants to use them. This would be high up in the aviary.
- sides of the aviary in the rear 1/3 lined to the top of the roof with whatever brush I can get. The brush would start around 2/3 of the way up.
- some wicker baskets scattered a bit lower on the sides of the aviary, maybe 1/2 way up.

Does this sound OK?

I heard some birds like to build nests in the lower parts of the aviary e.g. Painteds. Do I need to cater for this or will they build a nest wherever brush is available?

Cheers

Tony

[Mickp]

the painteds will please themselves as to where they nest. I've had some build a nest 6' above the floor while others have built in feathergrass plants a foot from the floor.