Any tips for Double Bars

White Rumped and Black Rumped.
Includes Species Profiles.
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geasterbrook
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Posts: 25
Joined: 16 Aug 2010, 13:15
Location: Sydney, NSW

Hi

I would lke any tips for breeding Double Bars.

They are reasonably common I think however I have the impression they may not be that easy for get to breed

My set up at present is I purchased 6, one died not long after so I have had a group of 5 sharing an aviary with a pair of spice finches. This has been like this for 10 months.

Aviary dimensions 3.1m wide, 1.6m deep.

I have brushing in the aviary and feed on a daily basis sprouted seed, green seed. Have routinely tried offering meal worms and maggots but they never seem to be interested.

There has been lots of building of roosting nests but never have settled down to breed.

I dont know for certain the sex of the birds. The person who sold me the birds from Petlink didnt know either. I have recently banded them so that I might watch them and work out sex.

They do seem quite flghtly so I limit entry into the aviary to once a day and usually try to observe from some distance to try to see "normal" behaviour.

I was thinking of purchasing another pair to change the dynamic of the group.

Any hints or comments would be most welcome.

Geoff
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spanna
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Joined: 03 Jun 2010, 16:03
Location: Bullsbrook, Western Australia
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I had only 2 pairs for around a year, with no signs of breeding. I then purchased another 2 pair, and now have all my double bars breeding! They really do love being in a colony, so another pair may not hurt. Law of averages suggests you would probably have 3 cocks and 2 hens (if you lose a bird during/shortly after moving, it's almost always a hen), but you may be one of the unlucky few that ended up with all of one sex. If you want to identify sexes, take out all nesting material for a few days, then throw in some nice white feathers or emu feathers, it may just tempt the males into jumping up and down and singing their little hearts out. The song is very VERY quiet though, so you will need to sit and watch them for a couple of hours if you can. Good pair of binoculars is handy so you can leave them well enough alone and still try and see ring colours!
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mackstaa
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Joined: 07 Mar 2011, 22:10
Location: Boy from Basso

Sounds like your doing the right thing to me, I guess if there are too many cockbirds that could interfere with the hens settling down. We're they young birds from different parents?
Mackstaa
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geasterbrook
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Posts: 25
Joined: 16 Aug 2010, 13:15
Location: Sydney, NSW

mackstaa wrote:Sounds like your doing the right thing to me, I guess if there are too many cockbirds that could interfere with the hens settling down. We're they young birds from different parents?
Hi Mackstaa,

They were adult birds when I purchased them and Im unsure of sex at this point.

My plan was to purchase another pair to change the dynamic of the group, and to just try to watch them further.

Geoff
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mackstaa
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Joined: 07 Mar 2011, 22:10
Location: Boy from Basso

It can't hurt mate.
I run about 4 pairs in my aviaries but even with a good pair and a bit of competition should see results. All the best!
Mackstaa
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Netsurfer
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Posts: 380
Joined: 30 Jun 2010, 10:30
Location: Sydney, NSW

Hmmm, just "Double Bars"? No one is saying which ones of the two subspecies? I'm after some black-rumped if anyone's got 'em in Sydney?
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COUNTRY CAPITAL
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Posts: 610
Joined: 01 Sep 2010, 08:25
Location: TAMWORTH

the best tip i can offer is to treat them like you would expensive/rare finches.
just because they are common does'nt mean they deserve any less than the best you can offer.
i have them breeding in a large planted aviary as a colony so they select their own mates as i still have trouble correctly picking the sexes.
mine love swamp grass to build with and seeding grass heads to raise young.
they are a skittish breed and like some peace and quiet.
offer as many brush nest sites as you can and they should do the rest.
adding another pair would be ok but i would not add any other species to this size aviary as they are likely to dominate them and hinder any breeding.
good luck. :thumbup:
CC
Aussie finch tragic.rodent/snake terroriser.
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SamDavis
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Joined: 03 Jan 2011, 14:01
Location: Douglas Park NSW

Did you also buy the spice finches from the same source as the DBs? If so then maybe they're all wild caught. Are you sure the petlink seller actually bred these birds - I assume you did the licence paperwork. I may be completely off track in your case but I've no doubt many wild caught DBs (and also spice and redheads) are about in the Sydney market. And wild caught DBs would be very difficult to get breeding.
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Ivan
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Joined: 21 Jan 2012, 18:44
Location: Belgium

Don't double bars disturb other double bars when bred in a colony?
Do all the DB have the oppurtunity to breed or only the most dominant pair(s)?
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spanna
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spanna wrote:I had only 2 pairs for around a year, with no signs of breeding. I then purchased another 2 pair, and now have all my double bars breeding!
Some birds breed more than others, but all are breeding.
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