Aussie Finch Forum

A friend in Adelaide and one his fincho mates have some black birds in their collections.One fella has some black Orange Breast waxbills and a good friend of mine has a Strawberry finch which has just moulted and is mostly black.They went into the Adelaide hills to purchase some swamp grass on the weekend and that breeder also has a black Strawberry finch.Can these be bred as a mutation or is it just a melanistic fluke ?

Never seen or heard of them, any chance of getting pic's off them?

I can ask Buzz but they are cagey older fellas and not computer literate.My concern is they dont seem really interested in doing a lot with birds or savvy on mutations and how they work.I saw one ob this time last year that was mostly black but apparently the guy has one that is all black.

melanistic O/Bs occasionally turn up with dietary deficiencies...?

same bloke breeds about 50 to 60 RCCBs a year,gouldians,Strawberries and cubans.Breeds mealies and maggots and has a decent weed patch.I know thats not everything but why 1 or 2 birds showing black and not regularly producing young displaying this trait.? I dont think its diet.

hmm, very interesting... great

Both of those species have historically been known to produce melanistic looking birds.
This has usually been attributed to lack of sunshine or poor diet.
These birds kept in improved conditions have tended to regain their colour.
Are these birds kept in covered-in sheds or indoors?
The diet doesn't seem to be the issue in this case.

The Strawbs are kept in outdor avairies.The OB`s from memory have clear plastic sheeting on the roof but are in a complex of aviaries that maybe doesnt have direct acces to sunlight other that the clear sheeting.

Definitely induced melanism. Strawbs & OBs both particularly prone to it. Due to at least temporarily adverse dietary &/or environmental conditions. Should moult out to normal colour 1st moult after more complete diet & less crowded/more hygenic/warmer & dryer aviry environment is restored.

Here is another colour to look at
The owner of these OB's calls them a olive OB. I do not own these birds. Owners name with held.