Scarlet Honeyeaters

[Danny]

I also have a couple of pairs of Scarlets and they will breed on just a nectar substitute and plenty of ferment and bush flies. The problem is to get them to go to nest you need to have them in a reasonably large aviary with some nectar producing plants growing and supply them with spider webs and palm or coco-nut fibre to build the nest with. I might be able to get a friend to post a video of a pair nesting in his aviary.

I'm not convinced aviary size matters - mine got to chick stage last year (before I forgot to restock the fruit fly bin) in an aviary 4 x 1.5 m shared with a pair of variegateds. I think the access to flowers makes a big difference to their overall health particularly in winter when an early feed allows them to kickstart the body on those cold mornings (I also add a little brown sugar to the wombaroo in the winter to provide that extra sugar rush in case I'm late feeding). Small red flowers are by far their preferred flower. To save space, my new cages are planted with 1.5 m high standards grafted grevilleas - that way I never need to prune them as they won't grow much taller but their is a cascade of flowers hanging down in all directions. Grevillea thelmaniana grey is ideal as a grafted standard and flowers 9 months of the year,G. "lilliane" and "gin Gin gem" also work great as tall grafteds, again with lots of small red flowers. Grafting keeps them off the ground and away from the Phytophora fungus that will kill the plant in the first season.

[Tintola]

I was using Wombaroo Honeyeater/Red then someone put me on to a much more economical home mix. It is 1kg dark brown sugar, 2 cups of dextrose and 2 tble spoons of bee pollen. Brought to the boil with 2 ltrs water, cool and add another 2 ltrs water. Bottle up and refrigerate or freeze. On this mix fresh daily they have maintained their colour at a fraction of the cost.

[Netsurfer]

Hi all,
I banded a few of these little gems in the last few days, does anyone keep them and if so what are they like? Spotted pardelote just got bumped 1st to second on my favourite bird list

Many years ago I saw one bird at the Featherdale (male) singing, how could I forget! Their Canary-like song is incredibly sweet, I always wanted a pair but I'm not sure now, someone told me they are a little over aggressive, is that true? I believe, you need class 2 or "Birds - Advanced" to keep them, same as for wrens. The closest thing to Hummingbirds in Australia!

[Danny]

I was using Wombaroo Honeyeater/Red then someone put me on to a much more economical home mix. It is 1kg dark brown sugar, 2 cups of dextrose and 2 tble spoons of bee pollen. Brought to the boil with 2 ltrs water, cool and add another 2 ltrs water. Bottle up and refrigerate or freeze. On this mix fresh daily they have maintained their colour at a fraction of the cost.

But is it a balanced nutrition or just something DS made up??? I started using his recipe but just couldn't trust it nutritionally.

[Jayburd]

Thanks everyone!!! lots of great info here

Many years ago I saw one bird at the Featherdale (male) singing, how could I forget! Their Canary-like song is incredibly sweet, I always wanted a pair but I'm not sure now, someone told me they are a little over aggressive, is that true? I believe, you need class 2 or "Birds - Advanced" to keep them, same as for wrens. The closest thing to Hummingbirds in Australia!

males are aggro as hell to other males. When we saw a male which was unbanded in a tree, we played the male's song on the ipad to lure him into the mist net. The ipad got the first two notes and WHAM there he is... even while in the net he was still struggling to try and peck holes in the speaker! not sure what they're like with other birds.
Really, 4 x 1.5? sounds nice definitely one for the future list

[Myzomela]

I agree with Danny that they are easy to maintain- even in a small aviary but that breeding them is a different matter.

Having seen the colour of Softbill's birds he is definitely doing something right in terms of breeding- the breeding cock is the most brilliant red and would rival any wild cockbird.

Definitely an underappreciated bird in aviculture.

Jayburd, I have also banded these guys in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. I agree, they fill me with awe every time I see them!

[Jayburd]

Hi Myzo, I don't know about under appreciated - just new to the scene It'll take a while for the misconceptions of softbill keeping to disperse.
I banded them at Moruya, along with lots of other birds... I'll get around to uploading some of the better pics soon

[E Orix]

Keeping Honeyeaters is an aquired taste. The family are so agressive,not just to their own kind but most times to other species. as well.

[Tintola]

Hence why we keep the smallest species. I have never had any aggression from the Scarlets with anything else but another Scarlet.

[Danny]

Hence why we keep the smallest species. I have never had any aggression from the Scarlets with anything else but another Scarlet.

Come on Jeffrey. if there were 20 species available in QLD , I know someone stupid enough to keep all 20 species.