Bul Buls???

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Trilobite
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Posts: 324
Joined: 03 May 2011, 17:28
Location: Brisbane

Hi all,
I am really curious about these birds. Do they exist in Australia, if so what types, are they an expensive bird to buy, are they hard to breed, are they suited to a particular climate, what are their food requirements and breeding requriements, are they agressive or passive, can they go in a mixed avairy etc etc.
Cheers
Trilobite
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mattymeischke
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Joined: 25 Jul 2011, 20:25
Location: Southern Tablelands of NSW

Red-whiskered Bulbuls were introduced into Sydney suburbs around the 1880s and later into Melbourne. Currently, they are most common in Sydney and around Coffs Harbour in NSW, and around Mackay in Qld (ref: Michael Morcombe's Australian birds iPhone app).

I've never had them, but know of one forum member who keeps them and suspect there are a few. I believe they used to be much more common in aviculture than they are today.

birdcare.com.au says of diet and feeding:

"An aviary diet should include a quality finch seed mix, variety of fruits such as apple, pear, banana, grapes, soaked sultanas, berries, small quantity of plain Madeira cake and multi-grain bread, and a variety of insects. A quality softbill rearing mix can be offered. Will eat boiled rice.

As the young Bulbuls are fed almost exclusively on insects, a good supply will be necessary to ensure proper development of the young. Mealworms, crickets and commercially grown cockroaches are ideal. The mealworm larvae, pupa and the mealworm beetle can be offered to these birds to give them a variety of colour and shape in the insects offered. They will eat similar insects as suitable for the other softbills.

A pair of adult Bulbuls with 2 young can consume 200 or more mealworm size insects per day. The bigger the young the more they may eat. If 3 or more young are in the nest, a proportionally larger number of insects must be made available."

According to the same source, they cost about $150/pr in Vic, and are aggressive to other bulbuls so only one pair per aviary. They are compatible with other finches outside the breeding season. They are said to be easy breeders if you have a well-bonded pair.
Avid amateur aviculturalist; I keep mostly australian and foreign finches.
The art is long, the life so short; the critical moment is fleeting and experience can be misleading, crisis is difficult....... (Hippocrates)
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Craig52
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Joined: 11 Nov 2011, 19:26
Location: victoria

Most Bulbuls at the dealers in Sydney are trapped birds,they take months if not years to settle down to breed and yes they are very common as wild birds around Sydney but very scarce in Melbourne Cheers craig
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Tintola
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Location: Murwillumbah1l

There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that you live in Brisbane and they are totally illegal to possess in Queensland
even though they are feral around Mackay.
I have kept them since I was a teenager in the late 1960s, over 40 years. They are a very stylish looking softbill and I wouldn't be without them. I agree with almost everything that Matty stated in the last post, with the exception of the dietary suggestion that they eat seed of any description, although they will eat and digest poultry pellets. Any seed eaten will pass through them. I also Question that a pair with young will consume 200 insects in a day as I have raised nests of 3 or 4 on much less than that. They are totally peaceful with all other birds except another Bulbul which they will corner and scalp or kill when they want to breed. As a teenager I kept them on bread soaked in milk and a piece of different fruit daily. They even tried to breed on this rather impoverished diet but were unable to raise the young without the insects. Today's husbandry of softbills make the task a lot more successful. They are a tough little bird, as most of the early introductions were, to be able to stay alive on the long journey to get here. I have used them as foster parents for more difficult species to breed, e.g.. Pekin Robins which they have done successfully to fledging, then I had to hand rear them as the parents didn't know what they were. The price can range from $25 each (wild caught ) to $150 a pair for aviary bred. They are always a fairly flighty bird, especially the wild caught ones which sometimes have damaged faces or scalped heads from unsuitable caging during their holding period.
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Nrg800
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Location: Sydney

Do you know anyone that breads any around Sydney? I think I'll want a few later in the year when my plants grow more.
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Tintola
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Location: Murwillumbah1l

Nrg, put an add in the wanted on Petlink, someone will have them. You want to get a few??? Only if you have a few aviaries as only one pair per aviary.
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Finchman1
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Location: Sydney

I have around 6-8 Red-whiskered Bulbuls that hang around the trees in my yard.I even noticed 2 young sitting in the tree the other day.They have a nice call.
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Finchman1
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http://www.petlink.com.au/Classifieds/sale/2111053.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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arthur
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Shade of irony about the fact that these birds are 'taboo' in Qld . .

The feral population at Mackay came about as a direct result of NPWS action

In the early 70's a Mackay pet shop had 3 or 4 pair for sale. The ever vigilant fauna pharisees got wind of it and paid a visit.

Shopkeeper was told that if the birds were still there the next day he would be 'booked'. He asked what he should do with them and was told that they didn't care what he did, but if they were there next day, he would be in trouble . .

THEY WEREN'T . . :wave: :wave:

Another tale . .

15 or so years ago I was listening to an NPWS guru on a talk-back radio program

A woman from Kenmore (Brisbane suburb) had rung in regarding the identity of a cheeky little crested bird that she had been told was a RWB. She went on to describe the bulbul exactly

Impossible said the oracle . . No RWB's north of Sydney, :lolno: and a good thing too, he stated, going on to list all of major environmental problems that these birds cause 'south of the border'

I could use these tales to point out a few things . . but most of them would be well known already to most forum members
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Tiaris
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Location: Coffs Harbour

I've seen feral ones a few times around Coffs Harbour in suburbia, none outside of town, none in the past few years & not all that many over the years I have seen them. I seriously doubt that the local population (if it still exists) poses any environmental threat to anything at all. Plenty of Indian Miners now on Coffs so these may have displaced them significantly. Pretty and active bird with a nice song.
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