Aussie Finch Forum

Just wondering if finches are willing to eat live flies. I see a lot of overseas folks setting up traps in which they put decaying fruit in a container in which flies would come and lay eggs (or something like that...), and their finches would eat the flies. Just wondering if this would be a good idea as another alternative live food for finches

I cant say I have ever seen them but certain species will eat pupa over a maggot. Some will eat just the maggot. It maybe one of those things that is hard to catch in the act. Just like I have seen crimson finches eating ants.

Are you talking about the tiny Drosophila Fly(also called fruit fly).
It is the small fly that you see around spoiled fruit.
If so it is an insect commonly used especially for small Softbills.
Cordons etc will also take them.
The common method of breeding them is simple, a metal or plastic container such as a plastic
bucket with one or two small drain holes in the bottom and a bird wire cover over the top (to keep the
birds off the rotting fruit).
Simply put the fruit in and sit back and they will find it, breed and when they fly to the top they are more
often that not snapped up by the birds.
Keep the container out of direct sunlight, in the summer add a small amount of water if it seems to be drying out.
The also seem partial to rotting Oranges.

Yer should be fruit fly. I know the strawberry breeders in america use fruit fly.

Yes he is talking about vinegar flies gomer. When i had a large collection of mixed finches i always had it going but they drop back when the weather gets too cold. Foreign finches love them and will sit on the top of the wire covered bucket and hawk them all day, they were the extra live food for blue caps and or red cheeked cordons when i kept them. Craig

Thanks for the replies guys - i thought it was an interesting way of giving an alternative live food, might give it a try!!

Should have thought about vinegar fly. I just thought the question was about normal bush flies. I have wondered if some of the more exotic finches may eat them while still crawling.

i leave the pupae in the bowls in the aviary,during the summer months you can see the flies crawling around the bowl,but as for flies flying around the aviary i dont see any so can only assume that they are eaten by the finches,i also notice finches waiting by the bowls during the breeding season so maybe they are after more than just the maggots,by the way i have been to a lot of aviaries on visits to look at birds and have never seen flies in any of them,garyh

As well as the wire trap setup described a small plastic burley pot from a fishing store works well. Small slots, only allowing the vinegar flies in and out and a screw lid to put in citrus or whatever. Hang from aviary roof.

Great lateral thinking . .

Too late of course, but if the knowledge available today had been available in the years when the 'lost' species were still available . . they would not be 'lost species'



PS . . I cannot see any reason that finches would not take adult bushflies


PPS . . Anybody tried a 'native bee' hive in the aviary, occupants free-ranging . . probably more for softbills, but perhaps for finches as well