All Chipping In

[emmo]

Having had a number of plum-headed finch babies abandoned in the past I was excited about the prospect of soon getting my first fledglings, but early this morning I discovered the nest broken (by a diamond dove I suspect). I was happy to find the two former occupants huddled together on the aviary floor covered by an obliging king quail, but I was not very optimistic about their chances of survival. I stuck to my "don't interfere" policy with these birds. I was much relieved later when I observed the parents feeding them, and then very much surprised when I observed them being fed by a spice finch. They stayed mostly alone through the day, at least during the long periods when I was watching from afar. They continued to be fed by both parents and at least one spice finch - the spice finch even chased the father away at one point - so as the day progressed I grew more hopeful of them surviving. Late this evening two recently fledged orange-breasted waxbills joined the two plum-headed finch babies and at times the orange-breasted parents fed their babies and they all huddled together. I was hoping to see if a quail would act as a blanket overnight but it got too dark and some of the quails were still active when I ended my vigil.

So here's hoping that, with the help of these other birds, these babies will survive to fly and give me the joy of finally getting some plum-headed finch fledglings.
(By the way, the orange-breasted fledglings are my first also.)

[finches247]

Congrats.Good Luck

[elferoz777]

I had the king quail warming up my painted babies with their own young.

I think that is a nice back up plan for under-cooked birds..especially if you have a good and tolerant quail.

Good luck I am sure they will be fine.

[gomer]

fingers crossed. You may have some luck.

[Diane]

Nice to see cooperation between the species, hope it works in your favour.

[elferoz777]

Funny that

this morning I found two incredibly under cooked pied ruddies on the floor in the quail corner...

The issue I have is my new spare female is a bit if a b%^&%^&tch and doesnt like chicks near her nest.

I shoved them back in their nest (they resisted pretty strongly)...they were still there this morning

How are you birds going now?

[emmo]

They are still alive and still in the same place and still being fed by the parents and the spice finches. A wonderful story so far. I don't know how long it is since they hatched because I have been away for a while and didn't check the nest - from a distance - until early last week. At first I couldn't see anything but a feathered nest until I used a torch and glasses then the babies' beaks became visible. Unlike other plum-headed nests I've had this one was open topped. Anyway, here's hoping the extra feeding gets them up and away soon.

[emmo]

... And now I have just seen my male Pictorella feeding newly fledged Black-Rumped Double-Bars. I wish the Picts would make their own babies to feed.

[Niki_K]

That's great I have a broody zebra finch hen, so I put youngsters that have been rejected/orphaned etc in with her- she does a great job, no matter how old they are

[emmo]

... And today, Javan Munia feeding Red-Faced Parrotfinch baby. Can this lead to identity crisis when the birds grow up?