When is an avairy big enough

[E Orix]

Yesterday I was surprised to see a male Chaffinch feeding what I thought was and should have been
an independent chick(one of 2).
Today that same chick was found virtually scalped and near death. I caught it up and watched the male
hunting through the foliage for the next 30+min looking for it simply to make sure it was dead.
This same bird was a successful breeder last season of 2 nests of chicks with out a hassle.
Only difference was they were taken from a large flight and released into a bigger one.
Maybe the trigger was the next clutch getting ready to fledge.
As the heading states, when is an aviary big enough, this aviary is planted and very very large.
It covers around 550 sq metres yet there was no escape for the young one, I hope the other chick is a
young female and may be hiding. It really shows how territorial species can be.
The battered chick is in my bird room and much to my surprise looks like surviving, I hope it does.

[finchbreeder]

Hope the young one is enough of a fighter to survive. A perfect example of why we all need to consider what we keep and how we keep them. When someone with your care for and experience with finches still manages to experience the odd problem.
LML