Aussie Finch Forum

Hi Guys i have just put together 2 pairs of gouldians this week and i have a question to ask you all. Do i put the nest boxes in with grass in them or do i leave them empty so the birds can build them?. I spoke to a guy up the road and he told me to leave them empty that way the cock birds will make the nests and trigger them into breeding mode. Confusion confusion.Also i am in the Canberra region so have i left it too late to pair these guys up?

It doesn't really matter if you put grass in or not if they're keen. I do though, & believe it encourages extra initial interest in the box & supplements the usually poor extra nest building effort by most Gouldian pairs.

Same as Tiaris, i put the grass in ,and then push it into the corners of the box,so as to make it as warm as possible,in case the cock bird is a terrible nest builder,definitely, not to late to pair birds up i only did some of mine last week,good luck garyh

thanks guys for the info how good is this forum its gould..ian

Hi Ian,
I put the grass in and push a bowl shape into it with my fist.
You will find the cocks nest building ability varies greatly, some will basically use what you put in there while others will build a large structure which covers over their heads.
The detail of the nest has no influence on their ability to rear their young.