FINCHforum

Over the weekend I noticed my BCCB (Blue Capped Cordon Bleu) intensifying their nest building activities.

The breeder/importer from whim I purchased them then suggested to me that I start providing the birds with live food (he actually suggested providing live food throughout the year for all waxbills, weavers ect and increasing the amount when breeding). I immediately mentioned mealworm and he suggested I rather use termites as it is their favorite wild food and it is easily and freely available here.

So I followed the termite harvesting instructions and provided my first termites to my BCCB's. It took them less than a minute to notice the termites and less than 5 to consume all of them - lol. I then added some more and they went nuts, it was so funny to see the 4 of them all eating at the same time. They finished that batch in no time as well. Up to this point I was providing roughly about 100 - 150 termites at a time (I counted the amount 1 bird consumed and multiplied it by 4, how else do you count termites hidden in a piece of dust?).

It then concerned me that they consumed the termites so quickly and I added a big chunk of termite nest core which was overflowing with the little insects. My dominant male jumped on top of the nest and then quickly jumped away as I think the termites were attacking him He then figured out to stay on the ledge of the termite bowl and attack from a distance. This chunk was good news as the birds could not consume all of the termites in a single day so I think it will work perfect once the babies arrive.

My shaftails also ate some termites but not nearly the amount the BCCB's did, none of the other birds showed any interest in them - stars, zebras and javas.

I feed mine a mixture of mealworms and maggots, the only ones that so far haven't eaten any live food while I've been watching are the gouldians. would feed termites if I could get hold of any

i live out on a rural cattle property so i can just go put and select a termite mound that i want my owl finches go absolutely crazy for them though my zebra are a bit wary of them, so i suggest if your finches go for them, you should feed termites or other live food.

Well it looks like the initial fuss over the new food has worn off a bit now.

I now notice it takes about 3 days for them to consume the amount of termites they ate on day one. Maybe they were just so excited to discover the new food source.

I'm not too sure if any of my two pairs BCCB have started to breed but I stay away from all nests now just in case. Luckily If I were to have babies there would be enough wild food available for them. So now I must just wait and .

Do you think that providing termites would be enough as a live source assuming they have enough so it doesn't run out during the day, or must I provide mealworms as well? At this stage I have access to almost unlimited free termites .

It is my understanding that in the wild, CBs eat termites and need them to feed their young, so I would think that termites would be more successful than anything else. Mine eat mini mealworms, but they just bite off the head and then I have dead mealies all over the bottom of the cage--what a waste! Mine will also eat white worms somewhat. I ordered some maggots, but my birds won't eat them, so now I have lots of flies in the birdroom (Hilary had the same problem). If I had access to termites, I would feed them. I think that any time you can duplicate what they eat in the wild, you are one step ahead.

Thanks Sally, I think I will continue feeding only termites for now. Like you said, why spend money on something else if they have their favorite wild food available.

Anyway I've noticed especially my one pair being very protective over the termite feeding station so I hope they are breeding. Luckily for my other pair they stuff themselves so much when I first present the termites, my other pair can thereafter eat at leisure. My one male will spot the new termites in less than 10 seconds.

It is fascinating to watch as I can clearly see who paired up with who as either bird from the other pair will chase another bird away, other than the termites the seem to tolerate one another.

add a couple of button quail to your cages Sally, when my finches drop a mealworm or maggot, the quail always clean it up for me, they are like vacuum cleaners in the aviary lol