Male/female owl finch behaviour

[Smurf]

I've 9 owl finches and initialy had them all together until i identified 3 deffinate pairs which are now in individual cages with eggs or possible chicks, from the 3 pairs it always seemed to be the cock that would pick a nest box and call to the hen. The 3 remaining odd birds i suspected were all cocks although i've only seen 1 of them sing/court and were moved to a seperate cage, 2 of them including the definate cock were being very cuddly towards each other so i introduced a nest box today, the cock constantly chased away the odd bird which i removed. The odd thing is that it's more so the owl of unknown sex that sits in the nest box calling to the cock. They both sit in the nest.
Would it be normal for a hen to call a cock into the nest or are they more likely 2 cocks that get along ?

[Smurf]

The pair mentioned above mated yesterday so i'm very happy to know the're a definite pair, it was the hen who was the VERY eager bird sitting in nest calling to the cock. Fairly sure now that the odd bird is a hen which i'll make available if i hear of anyone locally needing to make up a pair.

Also had my first 2 chicks hatch at weekend one of which i think could be fawn as it's eyes+body appear alot lighter in color to sibling

[cindy]

I go by head shape and coloring on the top of the head... if you can get a picture of each bird looking straight down at the top of the head I can try to help you sex them. (hens look thinner more V like, males are broader across)

[Smurf]

cindy , thanks cindy, taking photo's as you suggested should have been first thing i did when i got them to avoid all the uncertainty, i don't want to disturb them at moment as 2 pair have chicks and a 3rd pr possibly also have chicks. I'll wait a week or so to see if the 4th pr lay eggs before possibly asking you for help sexing them by head photos.

Am i correct in assuming fawn owls hatch with no pigment in eyes turning slightly darker after 2-3 days and have lighter coloured skin pigment when compared to a 3 day old normal ? 1 of the hatchlings is like this which i'm assuming is a fawn hen

[Derk]

Smurf
Can't help you with any of the ID, although I have also heard about what Cindy wrote. Just happy to hear about your owls. I love these little guys. It was seeing their picture and trying to find some that got me hooked on finches. I don't have any at the moment. Moved into waxbills. As the zebras get old, I think I'll replace them with owls. Hope we get see some baby pictures when the time comes.

[Smurf]

Above pair laid first egg today which i'm thrilled over, initially dealer had 9 birds available, of which i bought 6 thinking i might get 2 pairs from them, then after only identifying 2 compatible pairs i swapped 1 (turned out to be a hen) thinking they were mainly cocks for 1 of the remaing 3, after the 2 odd birds didn't show any interest in eachother i contacted the dealer who said he had a second opinion from another breeder who said the 3 remaining birds were 2 hens and 1 cock so i got all 3 of them giving me a total of 9 birds, turned out that from the 9 birds there were 4 compatible pairs and 1 odd hen.

The first clutch to be laid ended up under bengies who although hatching 4 chicks never fed the first 2 but are now feeding remaining chicks (1 of which could be my first fawn), this pair are now incubating another clutch, 2nd pair have 3 chicks, 3rd pair were due to hatch a clutch last tuesday but are not in a double cage so unobtrusive nest checks are not possible (both birds have been in nest constantly for last 3 days so chicks are very possible), 4th pair are above and only laid first egg today.

Having all 4 pairs laying eggs with at least 2 pair proven is more than i expected after only a few weeks

[Colt]

Congratulations on a successful start to the breeding season. I miss all my Owls. I'm down to just a few.

[Derk]

Smurf
Congratulations! Most breeders around here are not so accommodating. Lucky You!

[imac]

Hi. Can anyone help me as ive two pairs wee owl finches they each laid 4eggs in each their nests but both sets eggs are empty. Two off the eggs seemed to had something gona start in it but then stopped. Is there anything I can do before wee birds try have more eggs!!!

[Sally]

imac There could be several reasons for infertile eggs. If the birds are old, or too young, it can affect their ability to fertilize eggs (though Owl finches mature fairly young). Young birds sometimes need a little practice to figure out what they are doing. With Owls being hard to sex, there is always the possibility that you could have only hens. However, if you did have two eggs that seemed to have started incubation, then it could be that the birds simply stopped incubating.

[Smurf]

imac , hi, it could be as has been said you've same sex pairs, sounds like you've definately a hen in each pair due to the eggs, you should notice the cocks singing and doing a little hoppy dance with a piece of nesting material in beak, if you've seen this then it's a definate pair.

Owls like to feel secure in the nest in order to sit tight enough for successful incubation and don't tolerate nest checks which can cause them to abandon nest, all my nest boxes are inside the cages facing out which seems to be working.

With regard to your current eggs, if they've been sitting on them for longer than 7 days (when developing embryo should be very obvious) with little to no development then it sounds like embryos are dead. Often they won't start incubating until 4th egg is laid so you'd only start counting the 7 days from then.

[imac]

Thanks guys for the help. Ran out earlier aviary got the two that I think are males. Separated them in single cages and sat awhile and yes they are males. They both sang...so I definitely have two pairs wee owls..I have too stay away from nests then.lol...thanks guys for ur help...

[Jen]

Since we are on the subject of owls, I have questions. I purchased what was supposed to be a "pair" last summer at the Ponchatoula Bird Mart. But I'm thinking I have two males?? Who builds the nest, male or female? The two that I have are in my outdoor aviary and have each built a separate nest, then when one comes around a nest, the other chases it away. I've never seen any eggs. So do I have two males? I could try to take a picture but it won't be easy because they are so fast at flying around the aviary.
Advise?

[Smurf]

Jen , it does sound like you've 2 males, i've only ever seen the cocks carrying nesting material into nest, the biggest tell is the cocks song which is a very repetitive call whereas the hen just makes a short call , trying to sex visually is not 100% accurate.

[Jen]

Smurf
Thank you Padraic. I do hear a "repetitive" call from both so I'm thinking males also....but they are "identical twins" and hard to monitor. I just received the small elastic bans from NFSS so I think I will put a different color on each bird so I can make watching them easier. Thanks for the quick reply!