Hi all, just wanted to explain a situation which occurred in my gouldian aviary last breeding season which has bemused me a little. The one pair I did manage to get to raise young to the perch were a RH male and BH female they were definitely paired up as both hen and cock sat on the eggs at various stages however when the young had left the nest I did notice my YH cockbird feeding the chicks a number of times with both clutches. Now that the young birds have coloured up I have one young cockbird from each clutch that is a yellowhead
and all others hens and cocks from those clutches are redhead
Is it possible that the hen has been unfaithful and the old YH cockbird has been mowing the RH males grass? Can two different cockbirds be the sire of offspring from the one clutch? Or is it more likely that either the RH male or BH hen were split for YH and the YH male was just feeding the chicks as a good deed? Look forward to your comments.
