FINCHforum

Hi there,
I'm breeding Red Faced Parrot Finches and they have at least three 13-day-old babies. Today I noticed that they had started to build a second nest right next door to the first one! Is this normal behaviour? I was wondering if they were building it for a new clutch or so that they can move the babies into it.... I guess it's to start a new family but as I've never had this happen before and I've never bred Parrot Finches before- I was just wondering. (They're breeding in a cage)

I have never bred or even kept Parrot finches but I would guess they are basically the same as other finches.

It is impossible for the parents to move the chicks to the second nest so this is not the reason for their behavior.

It is generally good practice to remove all other nests once the pair chooses a nest for breeding. If you give them the option they will often do as you have discovered and start a new clutch before the first has fledged.

I would remove the second nest ASAP and hope they return to caring for the chicks. Also, do not provide them with additional nesting material as they will sometimes attempt to start a new clutch and will bury the chicks in the process.

Hi Tammie,
Thanks for your reply. It gave me a bit of a fright and I just got home from work and said I'd have one last look on the net to see if I found any more information. I've decided not to take out the nest and below, I'm pasting a quote of the reason why plus a link to the whole article. You see, I had a feeling I'd read something about this before. Thankfully, I'd added it to favourites!

From Parrot Finch Article:

"Cooler climate breeders can vouch for the fact, that not only do they return to the nest; they may well return to a new nest in which they were not hatched. Characteristic of the breed, the parents may have well set up a new nest, and be sitting on a new brood, prior to the fledging of the last."

Full article: "http://www.nfss.org/Articles/Article/rhpf-1.html"

What do you think?

Thanks again...

Since your chicks have one week til fledging I wouldn't worry to much about them starting up a second nest as the article indicates... Now realistically you may believe you have a problem, particularly in light of the fact, that you should not move the original fledged young out fewer than four weeks. Somehow, the parent birds solve the problem themselves and it is not uncommon to see the nuisance young gently evicted by a parent. Nature seems to take care of itself and as this only seems to occur in the first week of fledging, you should not be unduly concerned. Believe me, it will take care of itself.

I will certainly defer to the author of this article as he has experience with this species while I do not.

Good luck!

Good to know - thanks for sharing the info! I'm getting my male RF parrot in a month (already have the female), and since they're my first parrot finches I still have a LOT to learn about these beautiful little guys!

Hilary

Holy smokes! I never heard of such a thing. It's a good thing I learned about it before I got some parrot finches. (Maybe in November -- keep your fingers crossed that I'll find some at the bird fair.)

Well,
for those of you who are getting into Parrot Finches I thought I should update. They seem to be timing it nicely. I've found that, as articles generally suggest, they tend to start incubation around the time the fourth egg is laid. They now have three eggs (expect a fourth tomorrow) and I saw that the female was off the two nests tonight. The chicks are 18 days old now and they look so cute peeping out of the nest- stretching their long necks out to watch their parents bathing and squashing mealworms. I guess the hen will sleep in the new nest tomorrow night- the chicks can keep each other warm. The male always sleeps on the perch in front of the nest entrance keeping guard. I'll be putting pictures up on the Parrot Finch section of my website over the next week or two as the chicks fledge and I'll try and get a shot of the double nest setup...

Okay, got some photos- here's the link...

http://eagle-eye11.tripod.com/id24.html