Aussie Finch Forum

Anyone have them? Anyone had them?

not I.

havent got them either, only ever seen photos of them

never had them , but dont they use saint helena finches as hosts for there babies like cuckoos...pete

Yeah that's right.
They don't kill the st helena babies though, they grow up side by side.
Apparently in the wild they also use orange breasts as hosts, but usually only when there are no st helenas available.

Yes I have Pintails
I think there is a young pair there for sale if anyone is interested.
They do rely on St Helenas to rear them and they are reared alongside the young Saints.

Hey Grenadier
Would love to hear from you about your experiences with these birds. There's not a huge amount of literature out there from Aussie breeders.
How easy do you find them to breed, any special tricks you can share, how do they get on with their aviary-mates, do you keep them in pairs, or a cock with a harem?
Cheers

Have sent you a PM G. May be interested. Regards Craig

In the past I have run up to 6 hens with a cockbird in a very large flight but these days one hen per Saint Helena colony. My revised theory is that multiple hens will visit the nest too frequently and the hoste may reject the whole clutch. They seem to do very well 1pair Pintail to 6 or more pairs of St Helenas.
If you can breed Saints you are well on the way to breeding Pintails.

Great, and about how many young will a pair produce per year under those conditions?