Star finch beaten to death

[lacosa]

I have a large mixed aviary with stars, cut throats, parrot (one single) and Cubans in it. They have all lived happily for over a year now however this morning my star hen in dead and something has attacked her. I suspect it was the Cuban even though they have all lived together well for so long I have no idea why this has happened all of a sudden. Would have it been the Cuban or would her mate have done it? I was going to separate them for the breeding season as they are such a gentle bird. Any ideas where I have gone wrong here?

[vettepilot_6]

I have a large mixed aviary with stars, cut throats, parrot (one single) and Cubans in it. They have all lived happily for over a year now however this morning my star hen in dead and something has attacked her. I suspect it was the Cuban even though they have all lived together well for so long I have no idea why this has happened all of a sudden. Would have it been the Cuban or would her mate have done it? I was going to separate them for the breeding season as they are such a gentle bird. Any ideas where I have gone wrong here?

Which ones are breeding/nesting? if aviary large enough don't think killed by another finch? its possible I suppose

[finches247]

When I have had Cubans breeding once I saw them attack yellow stars and green singers when perch near there nest.So I don't house yellow coloured birds with Cubans.

[lacosa]

my Cubans are constantly building nests, they aren't sitting or anything but there are nests they have built all over the place, they have always been happy together but yes I was going to separate closer to breeding season, I wasn't sure if it would have been the Cuban or the male star wanting to breed? They are always so gentle but it just made me wonder given the attack seems to be out of the blue..

[tonytoast]

Several years ago I had both Cubans and Stars...they would fight each other incessantly yet ignore the various other species in the aviary.

The Stars would breed 15+ young in a season whilst the Cubans had only produced a few young. I love both but given the larger numbers of young Stars, I sold the Cubans. I still miss them but I don't miss the fighting. I know that it is not always about how many you breed but the dollars made from selling the Stars helped pay for the seed.

I think some birds just don't get along....it's often a process of trial and error!

[Craig52]

Lacosa have you thought that the bird might have died for some other reason.I have noticed with my own birds that if there is one dead on the floor the other birds tend to pick at it,pluck it and even eat the flesh as to them it just another source of protein,sounds terrible but it does happen. Craig

[Tallowood]

I agree with Craig52 comments.

[lacosa]

no it was on the top of its head where they usually attack. Definatley injured by another before death.

[shanny2]

sure it didnt break its neck and land on floor then birds pecked at it when did u first notice it?

[lacosa]

No Im 100% sure it was attacked and killed. Hard to explain but it had typical injurues of a bird that was attacked, not one that was hurt then attacked.