Redbrows?

[BENSONSAN]

Ok i have a pair of redbrows which from as far as i can sex them should and very well be a hen and a cock. My question is am i better off housing them as a colony of say 2 pair or more? Or just the single pair. As alot of you have herd my reddies feed my gouldian young. So i think they would be great parents. just gotta get the other urges happening.

I feed them maggots a mealies a all sorts of green food. And i find them to be very hard tough a robust birds. but i would love to breed some. Also im very sure they are wild caught and yep i have a license but when i bought them they were in a cage with a heap more! And as you all no there a very cheap bird here in sydney.

Anyway please hit me up with lotsa tips and should i go buy myself some more? Also brush doesnt seem to be cutting it with them. Does anyone else breed them in brush or only live trees?

ben

[Buzzard-1]

A Ben they love to be in a colony, I found put in fresh Melaleuca branches and they go mad.

[jusdeb]

Finches love mela melal ...Tea tree

I did my branches today (usually do them once a fortnite ) and it never seems to amaze me how the birds love them . Ive checked for bugs and other critters thinking that was the attraction but cant find any .

I really think there is some synbiotic thingy happening with the tea tree , birds must get something from it , maybe the oils repel mites or something like that .

Oh well that's Deb taking another post off topic . Soz

[BENSONSAN]

Hmnn got lotsa tea tree in there. Might just need more birds! Jeez the wife is gonna be happy about this once again. Lucky for me the reddies are also her fav finch. Ahwell maybe i can just sneak them in there somehow.

[spanna]

redbrows are only supposed to breed in living plants, but having said that, mine have bred in the dried brush in the aviaries too...

[tonytoast]

An old school finch breeder told me that he had his best results when they could hear running water...which is interesting because over here, wild redbrows are always seen/heard along creeks. Oh, and that they have very elaborate nests with lots of grass.

Mine are yet to breed and I have had them a year...in July. I am hoping that they will breed in the coming months. Have been watching the cock bird dancing with a piece of grass and they got very excited when the Bullfinch built its nest last week...they even went in for an inspection or two.

Natural, natural, natural is probably the key and I will let you know if mine get busy over the coming months.

[desertbirds]

I did ok with this set up and best results came out of the Mandy tree.Two pairs were purchased and one pair has bred quite well.There is a choice of nesting sites and on almost all occasions the mandy tree was used.One successful nest has recently fledged from the small tea-trees in there. I dont htink there are any hard and fast rules but a good pair is like gold.The mandy tree admittedly has the prime spot in the aviary,the best cover and has clear sheeting above it.I think they do appreciate company of their own kind and i have witnessed mutual alo preening goin on regularly.They are definately not easy to breed but as with many species, one good pair will have a go no matter what (with in reason).

[mickw]

My experience with redheads was a long time ago now. I have a medium to long term plan to get back into them in a few years when my live plants fill out.

But here's my plan....

Aviary bred birds are a much better proposition.......as many generations in captivity as possible.....thats a tough one since these guys are so freely available from the "Big Aviary"

Casuarina, or rather, Allocasuarina spp. seeds come highly recommended. Though I never fed them to mine years ago, they did breed but I reckon I only fluked it. Allocasurina torulosa or Forest Oak forms a reasonable part of their diet in the wild up here. I feed it to my Black Throats who also love them.......A bit of work collecting but once you have your eye in and a routine happening, its not too onerous a task.

Live bushes, Prickly Paperbark or Melaleuca styphelloides is my pick, but other prickly natives like Hakea spinulosa or some of the Grevillea cultivars would be ideal.

HEAPS of greens......up off the ground to avoid fouling/funghi

Termites

Maybe DNA sex the birds to be absolutely certain and probably do as Buzz said and run a small colony of say 6 birds......start with young ones.......Like everyone says for Diamonds.

Dry floors.......gravel etc....they always seemed to get crook for me in the 70's and 80's......but then, I never knew about Baycox or the like

Damn!.....now I wish I bought the redheads which were right next to me at the Kempsey bird sale

This all might sound a bit over the top for such a cheap bird but you're right about the humble Redbrow, its a truelly worthy achievement if you can get them going and they are a beautiful finch..................no point having them for years just eating seed for you

Great topic Ben

[Matt]

Of all the native finches, the red brow is the one I have seen the most of in the wild. I agree with a lot of the statements made in the above post. They love prickly plants and prefer to nest in them. Regularly they can be seen/heard in blackberry patches and just last weekend I was doing a spot of fishing along a creek and there were several nests in thistles and flocks containing plenty of recently fledged young with black beaks. The nests were also within 20 metres of running water which seems to support that theory. The Hawkesbury river near my place is lined with casuarinas and I can always hear them calling in the tops of the trees so I agree that the casuarina seed is an important part of their diet. I think it might be time for me to get a licence too and get a few pairs together.

[jusdeb]

And yet I know of a person who just CHUCKED a pair in with an overcrowded aviary of Zebs .
Very little vegetation , no live food in fact the person is clueless to breeding finches and yet their Redbrows bred .

They have my old Zebs which I was unable to breed and are now giving young away . CHUCKED in with Budgies again seed / water diet and boom babies.

I just do not get it .