Aussie Finch Forum

I recently bought a nice pair of red headed stars. They are about a year old so should be old enough to breed. I've not bred them before. Generally when is the best breeding season for them?

As a general rule breed them once spring starts to prevent egg binding but hens laying for the first time are likely to get it. They can breed right until autumn and even winter as long as they have the right conditions.

Boma,
These days Stars are regarded as being pretty well domesticated, and so will breed at any time that conditions suit. By that I mean when it suits them, not their breeder. You can try all the stimuli in your arsenal to encourage them to breed when you want, but this is something that has not worked well for me.
Mine seem to have a bias for spring, but I've had them nest building in other seasons with varying degrees of success and failure.
In nature they start towards the end of the wet season (Feb - Mar) when food/water is abundant.

Thanks for the advice. I always thought that the Stars' breeding season was aligned to that of the Gouldian. I was surprised to read elsewhere that they breed all year round hence my question and confusion. Domestication probably has changed their breeding cycle. Thanks again for the info.

Boma wrote: 22 Jun 2018, 17:24 I always thought that the Stars' breeding season was aligned to that of the Gouldian.

In nature, both species make use of the "good times" and more favourable conditions following the end of the wet.
In my aviary where the Gouldians and Stars cohabitate, the Gouldians (if only by weight of numbers) dominate the Stars for nesting sites, roosting perches and at the food shelf, so much so that when space permits, I will move the Stars to more agreeable company. In this situation, the Stars are not inclined to compete with the Gouldians at breeding times, 'though in a more spacious aviary, I doubt that this would be a problem.

Don't let the stars breed in winter unless you have a heat lamp for them and plenty of calcium to prevent fragile eggshells or egg binding in the hen.

I disagree. Star breeding season is mostly the same as Gouldian one here - so is their moult. Will breed in Spring & Summer also.

Being up the coast where it is warmer than down south will probaly allow you to breed for more of the year also.
LML

Unless you are keeping wild caught star finches (and I doubt you are), they will breed all year round if given green grass seeds and nests. However, most breeding occurs in spring, summer and autumn.

Egg binding was never an issue on my birds but they had a large (14 meter long) aviary to fly around in. In small breeding cages egg binding is common because the birds don't get enough exercise. If the birds have cuttlefish bone, mineral grit, a bit of boiled egg and plenty of green feed (mainly green grass seeds), they should never become egg bound and should breed prolifically.

I have a pair of stars on 4 eggs at the moment. They are housed with Gouldians, Long tails, orange breasts and a pair of Bourkes.

I agree with Rod_L, egg binding doesn't seem to be an issue if they have the right environment and diet, I know mine are getting plenty of exercise chasing away anything that comes a little too close to their nest.