Aussie Finch Forum

Hi everyone
I have built a new aviery last year and placed all my finches and some canaries in them, I have found that this years results in most finches has been quite good compared to lats years in my old aviery but the one thing which I've noticed is my double bars haven't done a thing. The DBS are in a more spacious flight compared to the over crowded one last year, all the same with food and amount of brush facing NW instead of SW. Painteds are going crazy strawberries doing something stars have nests everywhere firefinches and cordons have nests also. My gouldians are seeming more interested to nest earlier than normal but my DBS just don't seem to want to start with last year I already had 7 young, all healthy only 2year old and alot of chitta chatta from them. Anybody else having any trouble with reliable breeders.

That's interesting because my db's are the same. Plenty of interest in the nest but no eggs. Other forum members have said they are difficult to get to breed so I put it down to that.

If it makes you feel any better, I can't get any of mine to breed (Gouldians, Painted Firetails, Stars, Red cheeked Cordon's). Maybe next season.

We've had a few weird seasons lately. We got our first ripe peaches off the tree today; we would usually be eating them in November. We still have no red tomatoes (plenty of green ones) as there has been no sustained heat and nights remain cold here. Last year we got our first tomatoes on Australia Day and I can't recall a later start to fresh tomatoes than that around here. We got a frost last week, when record low temperatures were set across the district. My basil and pumpkin got frostbite!

Birds come into breeding condition in response to numerous factors, of which photoperiod and precipitation are just two of the more obvious ones. Other animals (like the Australian Bass, for example) are extremely sensitive to changes in barometric pressure. Black cockies have a reputation as rain birds, which I understand is due to the hard seed pods of many of our native shrubs dropping their seeds when the barometric pressure drops ahead of rain, which causes the cockies to become noisy and gather in mobs to feed. It is not clear to me whether they are responding to the seeds dropping or the pressure dropping.

As regards the birds we keep, my BFPFs have been doing nothing since winter, when they were producing through a hard winter. My DBs are showing much interest in nest-building and termite-eating, but haven't produced any babies to see just yet. Cordons, Cubans, canaries and waxbills all doing well, but stars only producing one or two young per clutch.

I reckon that the birds are being affected by the unusual weather this year, to differing extents depending on which cues different species respond to.

Giving this some thought, I tend to agree mattymeischke. It has been a strange summer, very mild, then a bit of heat and back to near freezing; all within a week!

Either that, or I'm just not good with birds!!!

Im new to this forum but noticed the same thing about 4 years ago when summer never really came to Sydney until late January.

Sometimes you may be fortunate to have birds nest late in summer, but mine missed the season and had to wait nearly a full year.

I guess its part of the art of breeding birds, getting all the conditions to line up

Agree. You can only contol what you can control. Out of interest...are there any others out there that are having trouble getting birds to breed or perhaps, a reduced breeding season?

Yes I agree the weather has been a little strange this summer .In the last six months I have bred plenty of parrot finches ,diamonds,cubans and painteds.Its all in the diet at times and bringing the birds into breeding condition.

I'm happy to report that a pair of Gouldians have built a nest and I was lucky enough to see a mating ritual this afternoon - interesting. This followed a round of furious mating, which got so carried away that they both fell off the perch! Happy to report no injuries.

Season may not be a write off afterall!

are you sure your DB's are a true pair? Just asking because 9/10 times that is what the problem is. A $25 DNA test will soon sort it out ;)

Dano, I know that there is two pair plus spare hen, male died last year and don't want to get another. These are 2 out of the 3 pair that gave me young last year. They are all healthy and have a varied diet with Green seeds and all the works with fruit and veg. The only two differences compared to last year are new bigger aviery and Green and grain from elenbee which to me are all good changes so don't know if the aviery isn't to their liking.