Colour Feeding Live Food

[VR1Ton]

Am thinking of trying to feed Insectavore red to the maggots to try & keep the colour in the Red-Backed Wrens. Was going to feed it as a moist crumble the day before feeding out to ensure all had had a feed of the colour food. Any thoughts?

[Pete Sara]

well spanna mentioned to me that feeding carrot juice to maggots instead of water in the mix may be the way to go . It s a hard one.....just knowing if they will eat it is the question...pete

[Tintola]

Good luck with trying to keep the colour in the Red-backed wrens. I did an experiment a few years ago using three different males in separate aviaries as they were coming into the moult. One was given canthaxanthin,( canary red colour) another was given honeyeater food with red colourant in it and the last one was given spirulina. All supplements were given in the softfood mix for several weeks and none of them worked. All I got on all three was that terracotta orange colour. If anyone has had success in keeping the red in Red-backed wrens I would love to know how.

[natamambo]

I've been informed that the crimson chat eats the berries off the ruby salt bush in the wild. This may explain why they are always more red in the wild than in captivity. Perhaps that's also the clue to the wrens....

I'm trying to source some plants to grow in the aviary.

[Tintola]

I don't have any trouble keeping colour in Crimson Chats and wrens don't eat berries. So back to square one.

[natamambo]

Tint, the wild crimson chat's I've seen were very dark, almost blood red. Mine aren't that dark, although they certainly have plenty of colour.

I suspect that all wrens will nibble at seeds and berries more than we realise, seems to me it's worth a shot for those with red-backed wrens, if they don't take the seeds - or change colour if they do take the seeds - all that's lost is a few dollars on the plant. In full sun the plants wills seed prolifically so it shouldn't be that hard to try (although the plant web sites suggest they don't grow well in humid areas which may make it tough for you).

Ruby saltbush is used to make a bush tucker sorbet, so one way to try would be to buy the seeds online and add it to the soft food mix.

[natamambo]

Another thought Tint - the various Govt websites that advocate ruby saltbush as a pasture alternative all talk about the plant being insect attracting. Maybe in the case of the wrens they pick at the insects and either consume berries or berry juice at the same time or the juice is consumed by the insects eating the berries before the insects are consumed by the wrens. Either way, it's worth a shot.

[Gerry Marantelli]

Depends on the process and foundation chemicals that lead to the red you are talking about. Not all color is direct - i think blue in some birds is one of these.. the color is created by the passage and refraction of light though the feathers and this plus yellow pigments make green - yellow abscence makes blue - but you can't get rid of the blue as its structural.
Red in some frogs is enhanced by use of chili or capsicum fed to insects. Do the finces like chili?

[mattymeischke]

Chili and red capsicum were used in the early days of colourfeeding canaries; I don't colourfeed, but I do give the birds the centre of the capsicum after we finish it and the Aussie (estrilid) finches seem to like it as much as my Fringillidae do.
However, this thread is less about finches and more about the insectivorous chats and wrens, so I doubt they would take salad. They would probably take it in bug's guts, though...
Nice thought, Gerry, and interesting to hear about colourfeeding frogs.

. I did an experiment a few years ago using three different males in separate aviaries as they were coming into the moult. One was given canthaxanthin,( canary red colour) another was given honeyeater food with red colourant in it and the last one was given spirulina. All supplements were given in the softfood mix for several weeks and none of them worked. All I got on all three was that terracotta orange colour. If anyone has had success in keeping the red in Red-backed wrens I would love to know how.

To make a good red canary, you must not only give red-producing feed; you must also exclude lutein-containing foods (lutein is the precursor for the lipochrome (canary yellow)). If not, the best you'll get is like a terracotta orange colour. I'm not sure if the pigments in the Estrillidae are the same, let alone chats and wrens, but it may be a clue as to how to acheive a deep, blood-red colour.

[Tintola]

Thanks for all the input guys, some experimenting ahead!