Aussie Finch Forum

without boring anyone i've had a few diamonds over the past 3 years. actually still got plenty......like 70 or so. now to the interesting bit. all were housed with gouldians so nest boxes were plentiful in all aviaries. i have witnessed the building of huge football style nests and larger wire nests packed with grasses.but i have NEVER witnessed a diamond - or mine anyway - building or even looking inside a nest box.
conclusion ; these type of birds are either cage breed or fostered from bengalese finches and that's why they behave so. on the other hand the gouldians use either the nest boxes - have a go at building their own - or take over disused diamond nests.
remember this is only a question. i too might learn something from this so go easy

Bill,

I think it is mainly due to each of the birds natural instincts. Diamonds "normally" build a large dome shape nest and as far as I am aware are pretty good builders, on the other hand Gouldians predominatley nest in tree hollows in the wild and aren't such great builders, just lining the hollow with grass etc so I would imagine that is the reason they prefer nest boxes. Having said that I too have had goulds take over stars and painteds nests and raise chicks with success.

Ken.

P.S.

How are the "slums" and your health going?

Wild Bill ,
I have had a pair choose 3 different sites for nesting now ...wooden budgie breeding type box , self built in brush and lastly in a wire receptacle .
My birds are from large planted outdoor aviaries originally ... so its anyones guess as to why the change of location and structures .
Brad

Ken.

P.S.

How are the "slums" and your health going?

not much improvement at the moment. hard to believe i spent over $2k on it. as for the health better than what it was........although could have been much worse lol.
on the bike and traveling at 100 kph i had a rear wheel puncture today. that put me off the main road and onto the dirt. very hard to control and impossible to keep it in a straight line. once the rear end started to wobble within seconds i was off the sealed road where eventually i ended up in the dirt stopping not far from the tree line.
if that wasn't scary enough i had to phone the wife to bring out the hi-ace and pick me up - a 160 kl round trip.

Bill,

Oh man, you sound like you are living life to the full! Just remember what you did when you were 20 was easier then. Having ridden mc's in my younger years (Hona 750 4 cyl and Kwakas 500 and 750 3cyl) it all seemed so easy, we were young and indestructible. 100kph would be considered snail pace back then. LOL Now I am approaching 60 and think I can do what I did in the old days. Reaction time ain't nowhere like it was, thats why we get called old farts. No more wresling crocs or climbing trees for the old egg collecting for me. Memories are good, but am more content to remember those days, not relive them. Ahh, those were the days!

Keep safe and get those slums upgraded!

Ken.

ken
that 500 tripple was a mean machine in its day-just raw power. for a while i had the 350 tripple -750 younger brother complete with the multi striped tank etc.
put the tyre in for repair and was told it's stuffed. so i ordered a pair of dunlop k70's. from forum members in the usa they rate these tyres as very good handlers due to the soft compound but wear out quickly.
i had not had a bike since my suzuki 750 in 73 -after it i said never again now x amount of years later i have bought 3 new ones in 18 months.
believe it or not i have more fun on it than my huge list of sports cars over the past 10 years. even my mazda mx5 turbo -rarely drive it and its a very fast car
regards