Spice Munia

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finches247
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Joined: 04 May 2011, 20:16
Location: Whangarei Northland New Zealand

Hi All,

This is my first season with Spice Munias and have breed 4 young chicks out of an colony of 6 adult unsexed birds

My questions are
How can you sex them visually other than DNA ?
Heard there is a difference in head shape

Also would they be breed better as large colony or single pairs per aviary or single pair per double breeder cage

Also want to know the exact same questions with Tri Nuns and Saint Helenas.

Cheers Henry
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djb78
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Hi Henry I can't comment about the spices or tri colours but I have found Saints to be more happy and free breeders in a small colony rather than single pairs. I haven't tried to breed them in cages only in my aviery.
Danny
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finches247
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Location: Whangarei Northland New Zealand

Whats the easiest way to sex the Saint Helenas ?
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Jayburd
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Under tail colour-brown in hens, black in cocks, usually very noticeable. Lots more pink in cock breast feathers too :)
Julian

Birdwatcher and finch-keeper.

Feel free to check out my photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewinsrail/
And my birding antics here: http://worthtwointhebushbirding.blogspot.com.au/
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finches247
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Thanks Jayburd and djb78 for the advice on Saints :thumbup:
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GregH
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Location: Chapel Hill, Brisbane Qld

Well Henry I can't answer your question because they all look the same to me but I did decide to look into monomorphic species to see if our perception is valid and the answer seems to be mostly incorrect. According to Van Rooij & Griffith (2010) it seems that for longtails >90% can be distinguished on just 3 traits but you have to buy their paper to find out what the traits are! I need top look into this as there are other references to seasonal UV reluctance differences in white headed munias that may not be obvious to us but that may give the bird clues as to the sex of another of the same species.

References:
Van Rooij, P.; Griffith, S (2010) Are Monomorphic Species Really Sexually Indistinguishable: No Evidence in Wild Long-Tailed Finches (Poephila acuticauda) 116: 929–940.
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