Owl young, begging/wing in the air, nutrition

[cindy]

I am begining to wonder about little owl babies, the begging technique with the wing in the air and how it moght deprive their siblings of enough nutrition while still in the nest and after fledging.

My owl pair hatched three young. One very strong, very vocal young fledged, the second fledged but was quieter and not as demonstrative in begging, over shadowed by the oldest. The third was in the nest, quieter, begged but the oldest seemed to be the fattest. The parents fed all three in the nest. Even after fledging the parents shooed them back to the nest to feed.

The third sadly never fledged but was due to, it passed away in the nest the day after the second chick fledged.

Both the remaining young did well seemed to be eating weaned no more begging and was kept with the parents an extra week or so just to make sure. Dad started chasing them away and refusing them to go to the higher perches since mom was back on eggs. I removed them to a cage next to the parents and they continued to do well, eating boiled egg and food.

The youngest, less vocal of the two started to not look well n the last day or so. I applied heat and extra egg food and millet. She ate millet, some egg and pellets but retreated to her nest or sat near the heat. She passed away this morning. She was not to thin and seemed ok except she was gasping a little, no clicking.

My thought considering the one stronger baby survived and is energetic and eats like a little pig is that during their time in the nest the younger ones did not get enough nurishment to grow properly or substain them, the wing blocking from the older one was very strong. I was also using a tube nest, the parents chose that over a box. so it would also hinder babies from coming forward if being wing blocked by a sibling. If this is what did happen it is a tough lesson, a sad lesson to learn.

I now have the parents sitting on eggs in a box opposed to a tube nest. hopefully this will give the chicks more room to beg and be seen. The second baby may have been fed but perhaps not enough to give it a quality life to live long.

I did read on efinch.com that the wing blocking is like a survival of the fitest in the wild, a strong wing blocking ability guarantees the young will get it's full amount of food and more.

Not sure if this makes any sense or not....I am opting on boxes with the more difficult finches to breed.

[lovemyfinch]

So sorry you lost the baby Cindy

[cindy]

Thank you Janine.

[6finchfriends]

I'm Sorry Cindy Even if nature knows best it's still a sad day to lose a little one. Especially an older chick. Some day I would like to have a pair of Owls so I appreciate your views on the wing block and nest size. I think you have a valid point. I will make a mental note to use a box nest for them (if I get a pair this fall) where the parents have more room to see the younger babies. I'm wondering if removing the eggs and replacing them with dummys until all are laid would give the chicks a better chance since they'd hatch the same day. Or would removing the eggs upset the parents too much? I need to learn more about owls. Hope you can post a photo of the little fatty soon. Again, so sorry for the loss.

[cindy]

Thank you for your kindness, it was not a good morning loosing this little one. The one remaining is a toughy.

The trick is not to disturb them much..I would not remove eggs or try to get them to hatch at the same time, let them hatch as nature intended, one egg everyday.

I tried to do everything right for the babies to have the best chance at a good life, but sometimes things don't go according to "our" plans for our finches.

The parents are sitting so hopefully there will be more. The other two new owls may very well be a pair, the male is building in the box since I removed the two from the big flight and placed them back in their original cage. The possible male was not happy in the flight, the female (laid lots of infertile eggs earlier) loved the boys in the other flight but always came back to the "male" (hopefully a male) she was paired with by the breeder.

Right now the remaining baby owl is in with them since his dad did not want him in his cage.

I am thinking of doing a flight with my Florida fancy offspring babies and letting him join them for a bit. So unsure this would be a good move but the young are delicate and gentle like the owl baby.

[dfcauley]

Sorry you lost one Cindy... it is never easy.

[cindy]

Thank you Donna...none of the adult owls want anything to do with this little one...I might just give him a little fawn Florida fancy ebra female as a friend in a cage of their own, they would be about the same age.

I put him in the big flight, one of the adult males gave him a poke but the male that recently lost his female went and sat by himnow they are eating...if the big flight does not work then I'll resort to a little female zebra that is very sweet.

[annague]

Cindy, that sounds like it makes sense.

For comparison, my pair that raised 5 had them in a regular bamboo finch nest (large) where they all had equal access to the parents.

Regarding the wing in air blocking I noticed that as the young got older the male (particularly) preferred to feed them on the bottom of the aviary cage. He would go to each one and feed them in turn while they all begged and wing lifted. But if one got too aggressive and kept blocking him with it's wing lifting he flew at it and attacked it briefly. I think he was disciplining it for getting in his way. I raised my eyebrows over this behavior the first few times I saw it but I finally was able to figure out (I think) what he was doing. (They all mill around like ants when feeding). The 'disciplined' youngster would soon be back begging but not so aggressively nor so close (at least for a minute or two ).

Maybe as owls age they get to be wiser parents and learn to circumvent this feeding behavior when there is a large clutch?

This owl is young but he is just over 2 years old so he is a mature breeding age bird although she told me he and his mate had not had a clutch yet -- (I got him from a breeder that was selling all her birds) -- she had stopped them from breeding because of wanting to sell.

[cindy]

Anna, the father fed only briefly on the floor but mostly the little ones were ushered into the nest to be fed. I could not see in well enough to see if everyone got their share. I have seen a scolding of sorts for to much beggin and being pushy.

I am not sure what to do for this little owl. He is in the 5 ft long flight with 3 older owls, they are all eating together but now sitting on different sides of the flight. I put a nest in on the little owls "side" and the three have established sleeping quarters on the opposite side.

I will watch the interaction in the flight to make sure it is going well. I don't like mixing species in order to provide him a friend especially if in the future I want to breed this little one, then I have to separate him from another species of finch that he formed a friendship with. He is a bold little one, I think he will fair well.

[annague]

Is he the one in the video? He is adorable!! I agree -- he has the character to do well!

Owls are funny little birds. I hope we can figure them out -- maybe if we keep talking and sharing?

[cindy]

Yes he is the one in the video and my avatar. He is loving the big flight and all 4 owls eat together. He is busy picking at the plants and flowers in the flight.

I think sharing what we observe is a good thing!

[MLaRue]

I'm sorry for your loss Cindy

I agree on the nest issue - and think this is what happened to my first clutch of BC's - the babies were not equal and it doesn't help that they start sitting as soon as they start to lay the eggs - making baby one and baby seven almost worlds apart...

I noticed this in the second clutch too - babies were fed better but the age difference is just too much in such small nests.

[cindy]

Thank you Misty. I decided to order extra nest boxes, some deeper from Ladygouldian.com. I have several of the ones by ABBA and really like those. I also have some that are the open face wooden ones. Having now used the plastic one I really like them over the wood but the wodden ones have more room.

Update on the little one. He fit right in the large flight with the 2 older males and a female. He slept with the male that lost his female recently. I left a small light on near the cage just in case he flew out of the nest during the night...he was the last one out this morning! He is very interested in all the new places to fly, the plants and he goes down and eats with the group...all I see are tails in the air!!! I hope he continues to do well. He is a little toughy. I love birds with confindence!!!

[cindy]

Side note...the only finches that don't seem to really have a problem with any kind of nest whether plastic, bamboo, a milk carton are the zebras....jmo!!!!

[bugaboo5]

Side note...the only finches that don't seem to really have a problem with any kind of nest whether plastic, bamboo, a milk carton are the zebras....jmo!!!!

Agreed. + Societies, at least mine. Good to hear the baby is doing well.