ISO: Chestnut Breasted Mannikins and Diamond Firetails

[isobea]

w.l. - First of all, thank you for all your pictures! Those young birds will be lovely when they are fully colored. You are so lucky to have such an exquisite variety of birds available. I image-Googled mannikins and found many different species I had never seen or heard of before. Now I am even more determined to track them down. And one day I will make it to your corner of the world. My 28 year old niece in Germany has already been to Indonesia twice (plus China, Australia, Africa, all over Europe, it's hard to keep track).
About those bl.-cr. waxbills: I loved those little birds and since I only had about 15 birds in my 16 foot long aviary, they were not shy at all. I think when I lost them despite everything I tried, I was so frustrated and sad I never wanted to give them another try.
Iso

PS: For the last two months I've been seeing 'wild' spice finches at my backyard bird feeder. They sure look healthy with more vibrant colors than the ones I used to have. People have reported seeing some in Los Angeles and Orange counties, too.

[w.l.]

I am actually quite sure that in your country a much wider variety of exquisitive finches are available at any give time than here.
Foreign finches other than serins are rarely imported here, even common domesticated Australian species have not been established through breeding, and of the local species very few are available on a regular basis, the others take much waiting and searching to find for sale, if I can find them at all!
But I concure that some local species occasionally available here may be impossible or nearly so to get in the US. The same is true the other way around as well: hardly anyone here has even seen a painted bunting or a red cardinal, for example!

Well, keep an eye out for wydahs coming to your feeder eventually!
But seeing spices coming to it must be fun, too.

[Danio27]

Chestnut Breasted Mannikins eating grass seed heads.

[isobea]

Danio27 - Thanks for posting the picture of your birds! Where did you get them? How long have you had them and have you had any luck breeding them? Can you tell us more about your experience with them? Any advice?
Iso

[Danio27]

The adults were imported from Europe. I've had them for almost 2 years. I had 8 chicks this summer.

[isobea]

Danio27 - You are so lucky! Did your parent birds raise their chicks without any problems? You didn't have to foster them, did you? What kind of food did you provide after the chicks hatched? Do you have any advice (in case I ever get some)?
Iso

[w.l.]

Those young birds will be lovely when they are fully colored.

Now they are:

tmp_16841-FB_IMG_1479822256595-457318429.jpg

Any luck with your search?

[isobea]

w.l. - oh they are beautiful! I can see why you like the sharpiis better. How in the world will you tell males and females apart?
And no, I haven't found any yet.By now the night are getting cooler and I wouldn't be able to put them outside unless they came from an outdoor aviary. Might have to start searching in the spring again. Unless you are planning a trip to southern California next spring/summer!? Deep pockets... remember?
Iso

[w.l.]

Appearently the males have whiter caps.
But as usual with mannikins/munias, sexing based on color is not easy, but with 7 birds, I should have a pair or two, shouldn't I?

[isobea]

w.l. - undoubtedly! I've heard of people using a crystal on a string/chain, letting it swing back-and-forth or in a circle over the bird in question. Can't remember which one means male or female, though. OR you could just give it time and let nature take its course but how much fun is that?
Iso

[w.l.]

I've heard of people using a crystal on a string/chain, letting it swing back-and-forth or in a circle over the bird in question.

Oh dear.... and I had thought only Indonesians could be silly enough to believe this - they do it with a ring, not crystal though.
There are also other ways people claim Lonchuras can be sexed, like the position of the eyes compared to bill, the way the tail is held when the bird is hanging with its neck held between fingers... all of which I have found equally unreliable and often wrong when testing them on birds of kniwn sex!

DNA sexing seems the only foolproof way.

[isobea]

w.l. - Well, it looks like we'll have to wait until the end of next breeding season. Then you'll know for sure who is who. And you can play the same guessing game with their offspring. And so on, and so on, ad infinitum. But maybe, over the span of several years, you will find the one telltale difference.
Maybe I should stay with dimorphic birds?
Iso

[w.l.]

Maybe I should stay with dimorphic birds?
Iso

Noooo, get them DNA sexed instead!

Well, out of my 7, 3 were bought adult.
One of these is surely female, as it was long my only chestnut-breasted, and got courted by a single grey-crowned mannikin in the aviary.
2 other adults were bought as likely males based on cap color.
Of the young ones, I spied one singing - a sure male.
That leaves 3 young ones still uncertain - hopefully there are 2-3 females among them. Breeding season is already starting here, but I am not sure I will set them up to breed this year.