Nesting strings in poop & obssesive beahvior

Raven85 · Post by **Raven85** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:35 pm

Hello yall...this may seem yucky..but..when changin the cage today I noticed what looked like worms in the bird droppings..on closer inspection(with an old pair of tweezers) it looked exactly like the nesting strings they made their nest out of & 1 dropping actually was just a string..is it normal for the parent birds to eat this string(the container with the string has been long gone since they built the nest)

Dale has become very obsessed with the bottem of the cage..wether it's the paper under the wire or what I dont know...what I do know is neither will eat the red or green bits(looks like tiny colored rice) of their food & I am constantly having to go pick those out of the feeders(I use the outside tube feeders)..I have looked & looked for finch food that just has the plain seeds in it..but no luck so far..at first I thought it was the fallen seeds he was after but as I watched him..he goes all over the cage looking at the bottom under the wire..like he's looking for something..I've only seen him eating once today(really eating) the rest of his out of the nest time is spent hoppinig around the bottom cage wire in search of who knows what.

any ideas on either subject?..is my bird seeing things?..lol..thank you in advance
raven

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:07 pm

Can't say I've ever heard of finches eating the nesting material. I have never used the type of nesting material you are talking about though. I prefer to use spanish moss or coco fiber.

I believe Dale is after the paper for nesting material. Don't give him material to add to the nest or he wil bury the eggs/chicks. Zebras are known for doing that.

Most birds don't eat the colored seed.

Raven85 · Post by **Raven85** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:53 pm

Thanks tammie..so Dales is playing typical male(wanting to breed again)..dont that beat all..lolol..& thnx about the nesting material..I'm gonna try & find one of those you mentioned for the next batch.
Thanx so much

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 8:34 pm

Some Zebra males seem to get stuck in the nest building stage and will add so much material to the nest that the chicks either... fall out or get buried.