Aussie Finch Forum

Had 6 young hatch the other day and all looked good,,a bit later went to feed the birds and found a young on the floor of the aviary,noticed it had no wing tips or feet,thought this is why the parents had tossed the chick,today while watching the birds i noticed the hen throw out another chick,not happy Jane,so went in to see if it was worth a try to put it back into the nest,on inspection noticed again the bird was missing wing tips and feet and had blood coming from its rear end and had been dead for a day or so,checked the nest box only to find another dead chick in the same condition and removed it,sitting wondering why all these chicks had no wing tips or feet,then noticed a European wasp fly straight threw the wire a into the nest box,i haven't moved that quick for a long time ,all the questions were answered and solved in one foul swoop,spraying all the cages tomorrow with Avian liquidator,have never seen this before,just goes to show expect the unexpected,thought i would share just in case it's happening else where,cheers garyh

Hi Gary that's a darn shame,i have seen Euro wasps trying to get into my aviaries.They seem mesmerised? zig zagging across the wire but never landing or entering the aviary. Try coopex and spray every thing including the wire. Craig

Garyh,
They are dead set predators, they love meat as in bees or as in any flesh. They were a real problem when filleting fish in the open when I was a pro fisho. They are killers, meat eaters. In my rented villa in Sans Souci I had a colony in the roof. Thought it was just an insect but when they started to appear in the living area sprayed them, then roof area was full of their nest, mud and all.

Honestly, if you have them coming in, their nest wont be far away, if you can try and follow to find it destroy it with whatever means possible. Meaning Baygon . In Sans Souci they normally made nests in Elkhorn and Stag horn ferns. When you find the nest night time is he only time to hit them up because they are all at home. Do not attack during daylight as they become cranky and will chase you. Unlike a bee they bite and sting many times. They they could be the the most devastating thing that can get inside the aviary when you have new hatchlings. Nest boxes also are a classic place where they could settle in. Black ants are a problem, easily controlled with Coopex, but these things are on another level.

Ken.

I recently killed a nest near the pool in the ground a month or so back. And couple of days ago had 1 hanging around the aviaries and getting thru the wire. I think I was zig zagging as much as the wasp.

We've got quite a few hanging around the taps getting water. Not fun when you go to turn the tap on and out come a few wasps...I didn't think anything of it, now i'm going to have to keep an eye out.

People,

They are terrible things and threatening our honey industry. In my view they do not only threaten the honey industry but any living thing. Unfortunatley they dont eat ants! Classic examples as GaryH has seen are chicks in the nest in his aviary. Small birds native or not in the nest are their target, fresh meat is their prime food. If they are established in your area just be aware.

I am pretty sure that some local councils in the Sydney area appreciate notification of Euro Wasp nests and will dispose of them.

Just keep vigilant because when you see a euro wasp as compared to a bee the difference is this, one has the disposition of a baby maltese terrier, the other is a American pitbull in a not happy mood.

AMCA26 and Painted4,

If you have 1 you have a nest nearby, like mice, never one. Which means you have a queen in a nest. If you watch closely you had one yesterday, 2 today and so on so on. Just for a bit of of a look put out some fresh fish or cat food and see what turns up. Don't us honey, attracts bees and flies, not so much wasps.

I have a fairly green garden at home, near on rainforest and have the native paper wasps which eat the grubs on the greenery. Great to watch as well as three or four species of native bees ranging from tiny little buggers to things that dig into the cement between the bricks. No Euro wasps at this stage.

Wow, one more thing to contend with....sheeeesh.

Ken

i

given my recent issues with nestlings jumping out I am now thoroughly freaked out.

I have paper wasps but those euro things are massive and scary.


Good luck Gary.

Elferoz777

Cut new ti tree last year with my brother in law. Spied a paper wasp nest, left it alone. Unfortunately he didn't and it came home with us which I didn't know. Funny thing though took 2 weeks and saw something strange in the brush. It was the wasp nest being tended by adults. WTF? How did the adults follow the nest over 10 miles through the middle western suburbs of Sydney into my aviary in Leichhardt? David Attenborough eat your heart out! It was relocated, adults followed me carrying the brush, no malice from them. In hindsight they didn't worry the birds, nor did the birds worry them.

Ain't nature great?

Except for asm and Euro wasps.

Found the nest today,will try and spray the nest tonight ,even though its on the neighbors property,war has been declared,thanks for the advice Ken,they are nasty little so and so's,garyh

Gary h,

Give it a good drenching down the entrance hole and then try and plug it to ensure they get the full benefit of the treatment, besides when treated they will try to evacuate and are in a really bad mood kicking around on the ground. Not good for unsuspecting pets or kids next morning if they haven't quite expired.

Ken.