Aussie Finch Forum

Hey People,

I have a "pair" of blue faced p/f's. I have read that the males face should be brighter and the colour on the face should go back further than the females. I can't see any noticable difference in colour between the pair.

One of them is slightly bigger than the other and tends to sing a lot more. Is this enough to be confident that I have a pair or should the colour difference be more noticable?

Cheers
Ian

How long is a piece of string?
Oops sorry, about the sarcasim, it is one of my endearing qualities.
Yes the cock should have more and brighter blue.
BUT
The brightest cock and the dullest hen May be identicle to the eye.
If one is a bit bigger and singing more, you could be in luck.
Provide the necessary for breeding and cross your fingers, or get another pair and put different coloured rings on each bird and observe.
LML
Good Luck

Other ways of sexing blue faced are the brightness of green on the body when viewed in sunlight, the intensity of red on the rump and they can also be sexed liked canaries by blowing on the vent when they are in breeding condition. I personally find the brightness of the green body to be pretty reliable

Thanks for your responses.

Yeah, I've been shown by a breeder how sex them using the "Canary Method". At this point I don't want to put the birds through the stress on trying to catch them.

I'll give them a season and see how far they get.

Cheers
Ian

Well it looks like I'm in luck. The pair have built a nest and laid an egg.

Congratulations, they are nice looking birds......on my most wanted list!

good to hear Iaos.Hope they breed a few young for you.

Well my lastest theory is that I might have two hens. I came back from holidays last friday and saw 3 or 4 eggs in the nest that had been there since the week of my previous post. They hadn't sat on them at all.

Today I went to take the eggs out and found a total of 9 eggs in the nest.

Is it possible for 1 bird to lay 5 or 6 eggs in 6 days? Will/ do hen's typically lay without a male? Will two lay in the same nest?

Yes it is normal for hens to lay one egg each day until the clutch is finished which would normally be 4-6 eggs.

Hens will nest and lay eggs when they don't have a male. Every year I seperate the sexes but I still leave a few boxes in the aviaries. There is always a nutty hen amongst them that insists on nesting by herself.

Is the bird in your avatar one of the birds in question. If so, I would be pretty confident it is a cock bird. The blue goes back a fair way on top of its head.