Are all termites ok to feed finches

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finchbreeder
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I keep trying to tell both of my offspring that birds are a great idea. Not working so far. Daughter is a plant nut so that is good, but son is voluntarily in the IT vortex. They are both in the under 35's but I am a very young over 60. :silent: As a youngun I remember Dad going bush and coming back with stories and occassionally photos of the birds he had seen. Country WA is still good in some types. Can see wild Zebs in gardens on the outskirts of town here. The topnot pidgeons come into town, as do the Red Tailed Blacks, Galahs, and the drated Correllas. Too much removal of native vegitation everywhere for my liking. Off my soapbox now.
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Finchfam
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OK here is my dad joke of the day. Daughter is a plant nut so that is good, but... would prefer her to be a wingnut. Sorry. I'm a little crazy today, I thought I'd lost a Cordon Bleu nest. They were already building another one and I just hadn't seen them tending the existing one for a day or two. So first thing in the morning I quickly had a prod in the woven nest and felt two warm bodies, not too small either. I thought I'd gone and ruined everything but two hours later they were exploring the world outside the nest for the first time. That was yesterday and their parents are still vigorously feeding them today. Anyway that's my excuse for making bad jokes today... other days I don't have an excuse.
When all is said and done, more is said than done.
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finchbreeder
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Glad to hear all is going well with the Cordons. I have a perfectly good excuse when I make bad jokes. Mild crazieness is compulsory in my family or you may be mistaken for someone who is not a relo. :ooh:
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Brisbane_Finches_333
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We've got no birdlife near us except the 'city birds' - cockatoos, crows, ibis, lorikeets, noisy miners. It's quite sad and depressing to see the path that our small birds have taken lately. Even the introduced nutmeg mannikin has gone down that path - a book of mine from the 1960s says they're everywhere in big cities like Brissie - in large flocks and very common throughout urban areas, almost becoming as common as crows, yet in 5 years of birdwatching I've never seen one. Said book also says other small birds such as Thornbills and Wrens are 'common on the scrubby, lantana-lined banks of suburban creeks' yet they're quite rare in the suburbs today. Also sorry for the delay in the PM michael - I've been so busy lately and keep on forgetting to write it.
Aidan [] Junior Moderator [] Breeder of Native and Foreign Finches
Queensland Finch Society Member
2019 ABK Magazine Young Birdkeeper Winner
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finchbreeder
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Some of the Rosellas are still hanging in there. As the daughters mob monitors a number of custom made nest boxs in locations in and arround city parks and waterways. Though they are in dispute with possums and domestic bees for homes in some areas. Apparently the wildlife dont always know which boxs are designed for who. :think:
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Finchfam
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No problems on the PM BF333. On the native birdlife front, I'm fairly amazed at what my suburban area has to offer. At around 800m to Toohey Forest, I guess that must be the major source. The last time I flew south from Brisvegas I could see that Toohey Forest forms part of a green belt which extends almost beyond the fringes of suburbia. If we implemented safe cross-over solutions it's quite conceivable that there could be quite a healthy dry sclerophyll bushland ecosystem most of the way across the south. If we could exclude cats that is. In addition to the Double-bars and Superb blue wrens I had a Pale-headed rosella come and inspect my biggest aviary early this week. It was very beautiful and I felt very lucky.
When all is said and done, more is said than done.
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Finchfam
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I should have added that I fed my newer termite type to a pair with no chicks. They wouldn't touch the soldier termites. So I tried them on my Cordons with their chicks one day out. Wouldn't touch them either. So I didn't need to worry after all.
When all is said and done, more is said than done.
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finchbreeder
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Daughter did mention seeing Double Bars even though they are not on the nest watch. And while she has not seen Pale heads, has seen their eggs and feathers in a nest she is monitoring. Their reafforistation (sic) is supposded to help with increasing the habitat for native animals and birds and join some areas up. Mix of local Councils and Queensland Water pay the bills.
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Craig52
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Back to termites, finches will only eat the fat white ones but not the smaller brown ones that are soldiers as there not much nutrition in them and it doesn't matter what species they are ground or tree termites. Overseas they use ordinary black ant eggs to feed their finches of which are white in colour.
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Finchfam
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Thanks for that contribution Craig. That is useful. The original cautionary tale I heard seems to be of the fairy tale variety although I don't want to be too quick to discount. Perhaps there is some other kind of brown termite-like or ant-like inhabitant of termite mounds of which I am not aware. But I'm happy to say that's another section of the learning curve I have now ascended. Once again, thanks kindly!
When all is said and done, more is said than done.
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