Aussie Finch Forum

Hi guys I am looking at getting two flight/large breeding cages made up to the size of about 1.5m long, 0.7 - 0.8 high and 0.7 deep. I am looking at at least .3 - .4 long to be steel to give the birds somewere to hide etc.
Now would this suit painteds as I think in the current avairy they may be stressed out with the RFPF and stars. I am wanting them to settle and look at breeding so any tips would be great!

I could also kick the stars out of the avairy and keep them in the flights if that would be a better mix as I am unsure.


Thanks
Michael

I think they'd be ok. I'd replace the steel end with brush of some kind though.

Well I decided not to put the painteds into the flight cage as I got a pair of cubans and I am not risking them going into a mixed avairy murder spree

However seems that the painteds may have settled down and started to nest but they have not built in a area I thought they would...
This is the area they have nested

They have tunneled into the grass area for about I would say 10-15cm and added emu feathers and coco fiber around the start and I cant see the nesting area it is that deep and curved. I have seen the cock bird sitting where the tunnel starts so I am assuming they are the culprits.... Now I have not seen or read about them doing something like this and everything I have read tells me they build out of sticks a nest so its pretty interesting.

Has anyone else had painteds build in this way?

I will get a pic of the tunnel tomorrow for all to see I just dont want to pay to much attention to the nest site

Here is a pic of the area before it was built for reference it stands about 1m - 1.5m off the ground

So here are the pics I didnt want to have a look to much as not to disturb them. But do you think the painteds would use a nest like this or was the cock bird just sitting out the front of the nest for no real reason...

The start of the nest is covered with emu feathers and fiber hanging very messy like and doesnt really seem to much effort put in(looks like its been just tossed there lol) As I said I cant really see the end of the tunnel so its pretty well done I have to be honest but yeah its a weird nest for sure.

Ive had painted nests that were a real extravaganza of building materials and those that look like they have been thrown up...from the same bird. Cant say Ive seen the tunnel variety yet as you seem to have, although one pair did choose to navigate behind some overlapping bamboo blinds and proceeded to build a nest in there.

Yeah at first I was thinking it was the RFPF's building it but the painteds are hanging around it alot. Once a bird goes and nests down I will be able to pick what is what

Zeddy wrote: Has anyone else had painteds build in this way?

Well Zeddy mine built this nest in a hanging piece of bottle brush....just the spot I thought they would NOT nest...


Oddly enough there no stick but a heap of firm grass heaped on the top almost like a bodgy roof.

Question for you......do you know if the cock birds incubate???

mine seems to spend more time in the nest then the hen!!!

Painteds build anywhere, at my friends place he has old canary breeding cages/aviary, there not very big, maybe 3ft high & 2 deep, they made the nests on top of the old canary tins in the first 2 cages, there funny nest builders, they like to use fine sticks & white ant nest bits in there nests or charcoal bits & to display with.

With the Cubans I put them in with any of my finches even my painteds, I keep painteds in every aviary, if I didn't put them in with the painteds I would never have any Cubans, I always have 1 pair of cubans per aviary, I only ever 1 time had a aggressive cock that chased a male goldfinch a lot, that was over 30 years ago, maybe I been lucky, they do fight on the wire with the other pairs of cubans in the next aviaries, I read a long time ago how bad they were & I nearly didn't go into them, so 1 bad cock out of all I have had is pretty good, they don't normally turn out as big of nests of young as a lot of the other finches but I love them, there got a personalty like the painted & parroties that don't fear people as much, they are a pain with the size of nest they build there massive lol

The painted cocks sit quite a bit through the day, in my big aviary I had 6 prs of painteds, but I often had trouble taking pics of cocks as many be at nest, I had a yellow cock that I hardly ever seen when they were nesting, the annoying part out of the 6 pairs he was the only one that didn't bring any young out.

Well turns out the painted were not the birds building the nest.... I was right thinking it was one of the RFPF pairs . The hen has been sitting for over a week now and I think she has 3+ eggs in there so thats a good thing.... Even though I really wanted it to be the painteds

That's Better than breeding nothing at all.Keep Fingers away and Fingers crossed they hatch.