Do you have an aviary?

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:05 am

HoangQuan - I'm not sure where you live (would be really nice to see that - you can add it in your profile) but I adore your Strawberry in breeding plumage and I think it's really neat that you have a Coconut as a nest in your aviary! Do any finches actually nest in it? The babies sure are keeping busy picking at the fibres - what a great idea! Love your aviary - so nice an full of plants and greenery! Well done!

Post by **Sally** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:13 am

Welcome to the forum! If you will post in your profile where you are from, it will help. It must be Southeast Asia, I'm thinking, since you said Strawberries are your native bird, plus your name sounds like possibly Vietnamese. The color of your male Strawberry is spectacular! I had heard of that variety, but never saw it before. Here in the USA, the Strawberries we have are more rust-red colored, and since there are no longer any imports from Asia, I guess we will never see that color here.

Beautiful aviary, too--I'm sure your birds enjoy all those plants.

HoangQuan · Post by **HoangQuan** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:36 am

Im from Vietnam guys, Sally was right about that

All kind of finches I keep (except fot the strawberry finches)are actually breeding using those coconut nests, they seem to like it! And in Vietnam, the keepers prefer using this kind of nest than others: they're natural, easy to clean, and looking cute in aviary

here's the male zebra finch's nesting

So were the social finches..

and I had good results here

babies zebra...

The strawberry finches are really good singer, both the male and female can sing!! They get along very well with aviary-condition. The male has bright red colour during the breeding season, but now he molted back to the dull yellow colour, just like the female

. Despite they're our native bird, it was not so easy to have them breeding in aviary, they will never nesting in coconut like the others, they prefer building their own nest by raw and dry grass, at the height about 60--90cm from the ground. Mine didnt breed throught the last season but my friend luckily have some building nest in her aviary, so I hope I'll be luckier the next season

Here's the male started to molt, you can see some dark feathers appeared on his head.

I also have a clip with the song of Strawberry finch, check it if you're curious about that.
click here

@L in Ontario:My babies are naughty, and playful, a little bit noisy, too

, but I love everything about them.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:54 am

Great to hear most finches like those coconut nests! Thanks for posting the song-clip though I can't listen to it here at work - just wouldn't be right to suddenly hear a finch singing in the office!

I'll listen to it tonight when I get home. Thanks for posting it, Hoang!

Beautiful pictures!!

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:05 am

HoangQuan
Welcome to the forum,very nice setup. I have tried the coconuts they will pick at it but haven't nested in them yet but will wait and see.
Your pictures are very good thanks for sharing

HoangQuan · Post by **HoangQuan** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:13 am

It's evening here in Vietnam

I love to photograph my birds
Here're some more...

I used to keep many kind of native birds in my aviary, hoping them to breed, but now I just have to low down the population and let go most of them..
Beautiful black headed Munia

@Bcamp: what kind of finches are you keeping? If they nested in nest-box, they will nest in coconut, just wait and see!! I have a pair of Zebra finches nesting this time, I'll take photo of them and their nest and post here for you to see, the male tried to put all the dried bamboo leaves he can find to the nest, it looked very funny

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:55 am

I have a lot of different finches the ones that have coconut are society spice goldbreast waxbills.

Post by **Sally** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:28 am

Thanks for the song clip--it was great! My Strawberries have a nice song, too, but not quite as nice as yours. Isn't it funny how different birds of same species will sing differently? Maybe yours is singing in Vietnamese!

B Camp, where are you getting the coconut nests? I'd like to try some of them. I'm trying to wean my birds off the wicker nests, as I've read of several people having handicapped birds from the birds catching their toenails, legs, etc. in the nest.

HoangQuan · Post by **HoangQuan** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:53 am

Yep, it's funny hearing that

:D:D, now you said that, I will try to teach my strawberries singing in English..lol..
Anyway, do you notice that Strawberries' songs will be very difference depend on the time and the place they sing it?
You can make the coconut nests yourself, it's pretty easy to do.I made them all myself. All you need is an old dried coconut and a saw. Then you draw a circle on the top of the coconut and cut that off. place it under the sunlight for about 1-2 days and then it will get very easy to take off everything inside

. And yes with wicker nests, not only adult birds but also youngster usually have their nails/legs stuck and break, plus that kind of nest are heaven for louse and other tiny bugs.
@ B Camp: Soon you'll see zebra and longtail pleasing using that kind of nest

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 12:16 pm

We can buy coconuts in the grocery store pretty cheaply (under $2) but I think it would be difficult to check the coconut nest unless you have a walk-in aviary.

How do you attach the coconut to the wall of the aviary?

HoangQuan · Post by **HoangQuan** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 12:41 pm

I dont usually check the coconut nest untill I hear something from the inside of it

, and my aviary is big enough for me to get in and check out anything

. In my opinion, when we keep birds in outdoor aviary, we shouldnt pay too much attentions about the breeding, how many eggs they lay, or how many chicks survive...If I want to do those things, I'd rather keep them in bird house . Here I am only play the role as the person who give food and water supply, of course I do try giving them a good diet and nutritons they need when necessary, but that's it, I'll let Nature take care of what happens next.
And how do I attach the coconut to the wall of aviary? I drill two tiny holes on the back of it and use wire to hang it to the net, that's convenience in case I need to take it down and clean up

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:02 pm

I got my coconuts from produce stand not expensive,I have a set of holesaws that have asst.size blades these fit in a electric drill just make the hole the size you want let it set in the sun the coconut will dry out after a few days then just take a screwdriver and scrape out the coconut,not hard after it dries. after I clean it out I then decide the way I want it to hang use a regular drill bit put small hole and hang with wire.I put some small holes in the bottom also to drain[just thought it would help but i dont think it did ] When I put hole to hang try to keep the entrance to the nest a above center,so the chick would stay in nest

Post by **Sally** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:32 pm

So off to the store to get some coconuts.

I have some of those holesaws for my drill. Can you still eat the coconut inside, or does it get pretty messed up digging it out with a screwdriver?

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:40 pm

Sally
If you want to eat the coconut then I would use a clean screwdriver and not let it set in the sun its not real easy to get out but can be done if you like it fresh [but not as good as Bakers in a bag at store]

summert85 · Post by **summert85** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:09 pm

very beautiful pictures HoangQuan! I love the whole idea of coconut nest. Wish we have coconut tree here. I could of try that too.

anyways, great looking finches too.