Breeding Seasons

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

I've always wondered why the breeding season for most Northern Hemisphere birds is triggered by the increasing length of day in Spring while some Southern Hemisphere natives (like Gouldians in captivity here) start their season in the late Summer early Fall after a Spring/early Summer molt. Some are still trying to raise babies in the much colder time of year in Winter. Same seems to be true in their native Australia or So Africa where the breeding seasons are almost exactly opposite ours. Could it have to do with the availability of seeds in their native habitat in the Fall? Just seems like more soft green food is available for babies in the wild in Spring so I'm wondering why this particular evolution occurred with southern H birds nesting in the Fall rather than Spring. Looks like it happens that way both here and in their native habitats so their season seems to be triggered by the shortening days rather than the lengthening days.

In my case, the canaries are going through their molt right now while the goulds and other finch species are in full breeding condition. Just means egg food for all for most of the year.

Any ideas?

Paul

[Stuart whiting]

Yea very true point there Paul,

I've often wandered this to be onest,

For the life of me I can't see why one wants to breed in the middle of winter as apossed to breeding in the spring,

I'd much rather breed in the spring regardless to what ever country I would live in,
More wild seeds available, wild live food is also more available, the warmer climate bringing birds into condition aswell as the lengthening day light hours

It's completely a no brainier

Here in England fanciers breed zebras and bengalese from Christmas all the way through the winter,

They start around Christmas time because the zebra finch society rings are issued from January 7th,

A lot seem to do this so they can exhibit their birds early in the year in the youngster breeder classes around July onwards , the budgie fanciers are the same,

I really can't work it out why they need to exhibit so early because all of our canary and British bird fanciers breed in the spring and then moult out the birds from late July / August until about the end of September and then exhibit all of their birds throughout the Autumn and winter , to me this would make far more sence,

I just let em get on with it ....lols

I'll be breeding a few quality zebs and bengalese along with all of me waxbills but I'll definitely be breeding my birds in the spring,

I'll still be able to exhibit any of the specialist foreign bird shows from September onwards

[debbie276]

My gouldians are outside and will end their 3rd clutch by the end of December. Doesn't get real cold till January here. They molt in the spring when it's warm enough not to get chilled when the feathers are replaced.
I'm sure it all depends on the condition and temperatures they are kept in. Gouldians are mostly kept indoors in the US so you could probably breed any time of the year.

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

My Gouldians (about 12 pair) are all outdoors and have plenty of nest boxes, materials and high protein food all year. There's a weather protected area, of course, but winters here can be as cold as freezing sometimes and temps usually stay in the 50s. In a semi natural setting, they do their own thing but it just puzzles me why they would want to start raising babies while the days are getting shorter and colder.

Paul

[debbie276]

In Australia their natural breeding cycle is in tune with the wet season , a time of plenty. Their wet season is Australia's winter, our summer.

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

So it's just part of their evolutionary DNA to go through the breeding cycle in the wet months no matter where on earth they live. In the wild, it was probably a species survival thing about food availability. That mind fix was millions of years in the making and had nothing to do with the length of day or warming temps in Spring.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Paul

[debbie276]

Mine get most excited in the spring when the rain storms start

[Stuart whiting]

So it's just part of their evolutionary DNA to go through the breeding cycle in the wet months no matter where on earth they live. In the wild, it was probably a species survival thing about food availability. That mind fix was millions of years in the making and had nothing to do with the length of day or warming temps in Spring.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Paul

Paul mate.....yer talking about Gouldians in the wet season,

Our wet season here in England aswell as the rest of Europe is classed as the winter months but not one bird would ever breed during this time, why you might ask ....simple reason is because it's to cold.

In other parts of the world where there's hundreds of other species of birds IE Europe.....the length of daylight hrs and warming temps in spring literally has everything to do with it

All British, native and European birds definitely react to this

Would you breed yer canaries in the middle of winter or does the day length hrs and warm spring temps bring them into condition.

It's a no brainier

[debbie276]

Australian seasons:
Summer: December to February
Autumn: March to May
Winter: June to August
Spring: September to November

http://www.fabulousfinch.com/lady-gould ... ticles.htm
The Gouldian's life cycle is primarily driven by diet.
In the wild, where daylight swings between 11 and 13 hours from the shortest to the longest days of the year, Gouldians breed well into the shortest days of winter. So 12 hours of light each day is adequate for breeding. If you establish the schedule where the molting season coincides with the warmest period for your aviary or bird room, you will have established the best conditions for a fast molt.

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

Cant really establish artificial temps and light conditions in an outdoor aviary like this. When Gouldians and other Southern Hemisphere species have unlimited food presented year around it seems to me that their cycle is driven more by their natural warmer season molt in June rather than by diet. It's just the way they evolved.

In this region, Goulds are nesting and canaries are molting now through the end of October. The male canaries start singing again in the cold, wet months of November/December and they're in full breeding condition by February as the days start getting longer and warmer (but still wet).

This is actually a wild bird estuary and preserve. I've noticed that most wild finches and doves start their cycle a little later in April - probably tied to food availability, light and temps. Larger birds like Ducks, Egrets, Swans and Geese start nesting a little later yet - in May/June with a cycle that's probably also dependent on food and warmer temps. Young hatch with a soft fur - like baby chicks - and need to forage for food on their own.

Off topic I know but here's a shot of a pair of wild Mallards that adopted us a few years ago.

Wild Mallard Pair .JPG (43.9 KiB) Viewed 1051 times

In June they always present the cutest surprise.

[Stuart whiting]

Cant really establish artificial temps and light conditions in an outdoor aviary like this. When Gouldians and other Southern Hemisphere species have unlimited food presented year around it seems to me that their cycle is driven more by their natural warmer season molt in June rather than by diet. It's just the way they evolved.

In this region, Goulds are nesting and canaries are molting now through the end of October. The male canaries start singing again in the cold, wet months of November/December and they're in full breeding condition by February as the days start getting longer and warmer (but still wet).

This is actually a wild bird estuary and preserve. I've noticed that most wild finches and doves start their cycle a little later in April - probably tied to food availability, light and temps. Larger birds like Ducks, Egrets, Swans and Geese start nesting a little later yet - in May/June with a cycle that's probably also dependent on food and warmer temps. Young hatch with a soft fur - like baby chicks - and need to forage for food on their own.

Off topic I know but here's a shot of a pair of wild Mallards that adopted us a few years ago.

Wild Mallard Pair .JPG

In June they always present the cutest surprise.

Ducklings 2.JPG

6-27 Nine Ducklings Hatched Yesterday.JPG

Exactly my point Paul, well said

[Sheather]

Foreign finches are all tropical birds. Most munias breed opportunistically throughout the year, as they live in tropical climates with steady rainfall (India, Indonesia - many like spice finches and society finches live in the grassy areas at the edges of jungles.) Thus we see that birds like societies, spice finches and javas can nest any time of the year and that their molts aren't regular - they simply molt when they are not breeding. In the wild, they're ready to do it any time the moment is right, and will molt afterwards, not always at the same time of the year.

Gouldians and the other Australian grassfinches are also tropical, and temperatures vary but do not become extremely cold, meaning in theory they can nest at any time. However, their natural habitat is often very dry. They are thus programmed evolutionary to breed at the time of year when water is abundant, when the grasses grow and bloom in the outback and there is more than dry seed available to eat. If they bred at another time of year, even though it might be warmer, they would be unable to sufficiently provide for their babies and few would survive. As it usually rains in Australia's winter, these birds anticipate breeding as days get shorter - not because it will be cold, but because it will be wet.

The zebra finch though takes the seasonal "when it rains" approach to breeding to its extreme. Their hormones spike and they begin to mate during the first rainstorm of the season, triggered apparently just by the appearance of water alone. They thus actually nest pro-actively, anticipating food that hasn't yet grown, so that by the time the three or four weeks between mating and the time babies hatch the grasses have just started to seed, green food and insects have just come out, and they get a head start on their competitors who don't begin nesting until they see the food right before them, like the Gouldian. Day length is irrelevant to them. This is why zebra finches will breed under any captive circumstance and at any time of the year but the other grass finches are a little harder to convince. The zebras see adequate conditions and think it will get better by the time their babies are hatched; a Gouldian won't breed unless conditions (diet and environmental) are good already. I have noticed personally pet zebra finches kept in environments where they don't get to bathe don't seem to have any reproduction drive. There is an aviary of them at a local nursing home with only tube drinkers available. They have nests, nesting material, and are paired - but never drop eggs, never mate, and only sleep in them. I think the act of bathing, which in nature could only happen if water was abundant after a rain storm - and would likely be followed by a bloom of food - might have something important to do with regards to starting them into breeding mode.

Budgies are very easy to breed as well because living in the same natural habitat as the zebra finch, they have adopted the same strategy to breed - whenever, wherever, as soon as it rains. If food is abundant, they're ready to go, and they never have a hard molt - rather, they shed a few feathers here and there all year long so there's never too much of an energy burden at one time to replace them like in canaries.

British finches including canaries are a third category. They have to breed in spring because if they wait, it will eventually become too cold again to do so. Northern climates are reversed from the climate of interior Australia - in most climates there it's always wet enough for plants to grow, but too cold for much of the year.. Plants in Britain or the United States can then only start growing in the spring and thus all the finches have to be ready exactly then. Like the zebra finches, they begin breeding proactively in anticipation of food being ready by the time their babies hatch, because our climate is predictable, whereas in Australia rains can be sporadic. The finches thus time their babies' hatching to the peak of food availability and molt in the fall, after breeding, all together and at once before it gets cold again and the cycle starts anew.

In the end, it all comes down to the birds wanting to maximize the chances that their young will be able to be well-fed when they appear. No bird wants to hatch chicks in the middle of subzero temperatures or a heat spell where it hasn't rain in four months. Living across the world in vastly different climates, they have all simply adopted different methods that each work best in their natural habitats. They tend to stick to them in captivity, even if it doesn't always make sense like it does in the wild - like for example the Gouldian wanting to breed in the fall, when it sees days getting shorter and anticipates a rainstorm and a flush of autumn greens, when in reality it now is being kept in an area where it snows from November to March.

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

So fascinating Dylan..Thanks!

How many birds and species do you keep?

Paul

[Stuart whiting]

Sheather

One of the best write ups I've seen for quite some time,

How so very true is the wording of the article,

Certainly good enough to even be published

Makes a change to read something where the person writes with vast experience on the subject

Well done Dylan, nice one

[Sheather]

I keep only a few finches now but kept quite a variety of species until last year when I downsized. I have 9 budgerigars, 3 cockatiels, a couple of canaries, a ringneck dove, 3 society finches, 3 gray zebras, and a pintailed whydah at the moment. The zebras and the whydah are rescues which someone abandoned in my yard just a few days ago. The numbers vary - I used to do a lot of breeding but not much lately. We have an 8' x 8' outdoor aviary for summer use but birds are caged in winter (though for a while I had a free-flight room set up indoors.)

I have kept in the past but do not currently have cutthroats, Gouldians, spice finches, silverbills, Javas, English zebras, and orange-cheeked waxbills (whom I miss dearly! One of my most favorite species).