Breeding Java Sparrows

03 Mar 2009, 22:43

I purchased 4 Java Sparrows last year from a street vender here in Laguna as there are sizable feral populations on Luzon. One was uncoloured and spent some time singing while it moulted into mature plumage, so I presume it is male. Once coloured it stopped singing and became as quiet as the others except for the softer communication calls. I keep them in a small aviary (2.2 X 2.1 X 1 m) along with a breeding pair of Cut-throats and a pair of Colasissi parrots (Loriculus philippinensis). None of the Javas have shown any interst in breeding and as I've always been led to believe that Javas were both aggressive and easy to breed I'm a little perplexed. I realise that they aren't easily sexed but I would hope that I've got at least one pair. Does anyone know how long they take to mature and (now for the politically incorrect part) how do you domesticate wild caught birds so that they settle and breed?

03 Mar 2009, 23:03

sorry I cant help you Greg. have never had javas nor paid much attention to them. hope someone will be able to assist you

04 Mar 2009, 08:46

I don't know much about the javas, but t would think that wild caught birds would settle down after a period of time and that would depend on the species.

04 Mar 2009, 15:53

I used to have Javas. Not sure about wild caught birds but domesticated ones will fair dinkum out breed zebs once they get going. Clutches of 6+ are more common than smaller clutches. Sexing isn't easy until they are around 9 months old when the males beak grows considerably larger and deeper red than the hen. Male + female + seed + water + greens + nest box = more Javas than you can poke a stick at.

04 Mar 2009, 20:48

Thanks Matt I could increase the greens but I've tried the birds in the aviary (Javas, Loriculus parrots and cut-throats) on various greens but they remain untouched so I now just stick to a fruit platter, green & sprouted seed and a little egg food (but only the cut-throats eat the latter when they have hatchlings). I've got an on old TFH book (©1978) "All About Finches" by British(?) Authors Ian Harman & Matthew Vriends. It reckons that newly imported birds are difficult to settle and that to breed them they need to be paired with a white (and obviously domesticated) strain. I don't like mutants in my collection but I may have to swallow my pride on this one.