confused owl.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:56 pm

It has been a challenge every day this week for me and my birds.
Yesterday I lost one of my gouldians and now it is problems with my gouldians and owls.

Please look at the attached picture of the two nest. In the pink nest there are two owl babies about 3 days old.

In the wooden nest there are four gouldians about 2 and a half weeks old.

I have been noticing the male owl sitting on the ledge of the gouldians nest. He has been looking in. Now he is going in and the babies are begging from him. I do not know if he is feeding them or not.
Today he will not let the yellowback dad come near this nest. He sits in the tree or on the ledge and chases him off every time he tries to enter.
Goodness!!! I don't know what to think of this or to do about it.

Help!]

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 3:04 pm

Wow, thats crazy. I never heard of that happening before.

Post by **Sally** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:07 pm

I haven't seen this happen either. In looking at the photo, the two nests seem pretty close to each other. I wonder if the Owl is deciding that the Gouldian nest is in his territory? You said the Owl won't let the Yellowback male LG enter his own nest, but how about the LG hen? Is she able to get in the nest to feed the babies? These LG babies are getting close to fledging, but they've still got 3-6 days to go.

Can you get up on a stepstool to check the LG nest? As soon as the LG babies fledge, the problem will probably be over, as they usually don't return to the nest at night, so they will be well away from the Owl nest.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:46 pm

I was gone most of the day, but I did check the crops of the babies and they seem fed so perhaps they got in. I almost wondered if the owl has fed them too. The hen isn't making alot of effort to go in, but the cock sure was early this afternoon.
I am going to have to watch them tomorrrow and see what is going on.
I know those nest are a little close and I will move them once all babies have fledged.

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 8:18 pm

Thats good. i found a pair of yellow back gouldians today at animal jungle and they have been there a while im gonna get them but am trying to save up enough cash to get them. The female and male i think are both red heads but the female has a white breast. tghey were selling them for $298 apir but the lady said she would give them to me for $198. ughhhh....I really want them so bad, lol. i almost traded in my bronze wings and orange cheek waxbills for store credit.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 8:01 am

okay.... I checked on them this morning. When I went to check, the owl flew out. They all have full crops, so I am not sure what is going on.
They are the CUTEST little things ever.
I am going to watch them today and see who is feeding them.

Also, these do not look like any I have had before. They all have yellowish looking feathers and they are not dark at all. Is it possible with the cock being a yellow back and the hen is a normal green with a red head that they could all be yellow?

Jamezboo..... 198 is a great price for yellowbacks. I paid 100 dollar for my hen at a bird fair....

update...... After observing them this morning I am sure the owl is feeding the gouldians. He is still keep dad away. Mom has shown little or not interest in going into the nest the past two days. I do not know if this is the right thing to do or not, but I have put the owl in a cage for a while. Dad went right in and fed the babies. The only problem there is mom owl is feeding two little three day old owls on her own. Boy is this complicated in an open aviary......

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 9:52 am

From what I see in the Genetic Forecaster - yes all the chicks will be YB's. Congratulations!

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 9:54 am

L in Ontario wrote:From what I see in the Genetic Forecaster - yes all the chicks will be YB's. Congratulations!

wow that is great. I was just hoping for one ....... now if I can just get them raised with all this owl confusion....

Post by **Sally** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 11:02 am

dfcauley wrote:update...... After observing them this morning I am sure the owl is feeding the gouldians. He is still keep dad away. Mom has shown little or not interest in going into the nest the past two days. I do not know if this is the right thing to do or not, but I have put the owl in a cage for a while. Dad went right in and fed the babies. The only problem there is mom owl is feeding two little three day old owls on her own. Boy is this complicated in an open aviary......

Sorry, but I just had to laugh. That IS complicated. I may have more work with cages, but no problems with other birds' interference. Sounds like you are working it out. Once the LGs fledge, things should return to normal. Mom Owl should be fine, since there are just two to feed. And congrats on the YBs!

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 11:11 am

......[/quote]

Sorry, but I just had to laugh. That IS complicated. I may have more work with cages, but no problems with other birds' interference. Sounds like you are working it out. Once the LGs fledge, things should return to normal. Mom Owl should be fine, since there are just two to feed. And congrats on the YBs![/quote]

Well I laugh too......(in order not to cry)

The birds are just crazy sometimes........ I really think that this owl thinks they are his babies. And they are sure begging from him so I assume that he was feeding them.
I may break down and let him out tonight.... I am just going to see how things go. Don't want to risk loosing these beautiful yellowbacks.

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 2:22 pm

The lady at Animal Jungle said they have been in the store for a long time now and no one has seemed to want them. she said that she's gonna keep the price at $298 but will give them to me for $198 when im able to get them and she said she would keep them for 24 hours if i want. I plan on getting them within the next week. It will be a early present for me since my birthday is July 11th.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 2:56 pm

jamezyboo21 wrote:The lady at Animal Jungle said they have been in the store for a long time now and no one has seemed to want them. she said that she's gonna keep the price at $298 but will give them to me for $198 when im able to get them and she said she would keep them for 24 hours if i want. I plan on getting them within the next week. It will be a early present for me since my birthday is July 11th.

That is a good price. Can't wait to see pictures.

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:38 pm

im excited because this is the first time i've seen anything diffrent then the greenback normals so i really doing whatever i can to get this yellow back pair.