7-9 pics Gold Breast w/ white, Black cheek zebs, Shaftails

[cindy]

During my absence for a bit from the forum a few things have happened some to my delight some not.

My little male Gold Breast offspring that had white in it's wings finally turned into a very colorful boy, the white remained for sometime but after a heavy molt it was gone. His belly is a beautiful orange with nice markings on his wings and above his eyes. His sibling is a little female. He sings a lot and both seem to really like Zupreem pellets and veggies.

My second pair of GBs I still consider young and have laid eggs but sit for short period then roll the eggs from the nest...they are on break right now.

I have two pair of Black cheek zebras, one pair is very bold and friendly and I found will foster an egg at any time, completely raising the young while incubating their own eggs. The first clutch they hatched out a fawn female a little better than a week before their clutch of 4 hatched out. They stuck like glue to the little fawn who in turn helped feed out the young BCk when they were weaning.

They did this a second time with a normal zebra chick....these parents may prove to be good fosters for owl eggs...if they ever produce. The owls sit endless hours in their nest but because of my hand I can not get to the nests to check, probably just as well.

The second pair has laid infertile eggs so far but when given a normal zebra egg they will hatch the young out and toss when the chick is a few days old, if a chick is fawn especially (the tufts on the chick were tan/brown) so eggs in need of adopted parents will go to the proven foster pair.

My RCCBs have laid eggs, built a lovely nest in the plant but toss eggs or miss the nest completely, like she lays eggs in flight or something! patience!

The Red Headed Finch female passed away, she was fine, active down feeding, hoping around. She went to her roosting spot took a nap and died right there next to the male. He mourned for a bit but is doing well, he sings alot...we are just waiting for another show and my hand to heal .....so I can carry more....we will get him a new girl.

I am hoping to get to a show soon, may add a new species...thought about parrot finches, my husband likes these. Christine sparked my old memories of my mom's Twinspots...maybe some fires!

Oh, my Shaftails, I kept the last clutch to see how they colored out beak wise...three have very red beaks, one a dark orange and one kept a pink beak...this is after a very heavy molt and the black on their beaks vanished. I am still watching the pink for traces of orange, to see if with time it continues to change.

[cldheath44]

Thanks for the update, Cindy. I'm glad to see you back on the forum! Sorry about the female Red Headed Finch. I'm glad she wasn't sick though, just went in her sleep. Hopefully soon you'll find a beautiful new friend for the male. Is he still young enough to make babies if they are so inclined? Would love to see updated pics of your fids, especially the Goldbreast and Shafttail babies!

Christine

[CandoAviary]

I too am sorry to hear about your red head. All of the goldbreast chicks I have had in the past with the white feathers have lost the white with the moult...except one. It is a couple of years old and has retained the white flight feathers. Maybe damage to the them, maybe a mutation.? Glad everyone else is doing well

[cindy]

Thank you Candace and Christine. Next week I might be able to post some pictures, hard the work the camera just yet.

The RHF male just molted and came into his adult color. I still have him in the 36h x18 x30 cage he shared with his mate. I was going to move him to a smaller cage but decided to not disturb him to much. He is very active, sings and chirps to the other birds next to him. They aare very gentle birds, very loving towards their mate. It broke my heart to see him call for her. Hopefully I can get him a girl soon. If not I can put him with a female cut throat, though they are smaller than the RHF they are within the same species group and would serve as company for him.

[jamezyboo21]

Sorry bout the Red head. Congrats on everything else. I think the zebras will do good with owl eggs. I ended up giving my week week old owl to the zebra in my flight in the back yard and they had a baby bout the same age. I stood there for a little while to see if they would toss since this was there first time and its been 2 days and they keep that babies crop packed so full of seeds. Now i get a full nights rest, lol.

[Domenic]

Sorry about the red head female. That's so strange to hear how suddenly she died. You must have been just as upset as her mate. But I'm glad to hear everyone else is doing great! What happened with the red cheek CB's? Did they ever lay a clutch?

[cindy]

Domenic, I really can't get up into the nest they built to see if anything is in there. They did have a few eggs that looked as if she laid them in the center of the cage. They are back to sitting in their favorite spot preening each other. I think they are young still and maybe need a bit more time. I'm patent. I may add a second pair in the future....

I have also cleared an area in our main room that I may consider building a flight in. I would put the GB, owls and RCCBs in it. this is on hold until my hand completely heals and is functional. For right now this is still a project in the developing stage.

[lovemyfinch]

Sorry to hear about the redhead Cindy
Sounds like a lot of activity at your house while you were gone, great to have you back.

[cindy]

Thank you Janine. Oddly I was near the cage and saw her slip away. It was very quiet. I am thankful she did not suffer.

[Domenic]

My CB's just laid their third clutch a few weeks ago. It was another failure. She incubated so faithfully, and both the male and female slept in the nest at night. The male was so ready for chicks that when my zebra CFW chicks fledged, he started feeding them! Every time they beg he jumps in between the parent and the chick and feeds them faster than lightning. It scares the crap out of the chicks to see some weird blue guy sticking his beak in their mouth though.

I just took the CB's nest out. I'll let them try in a month or so. Her first clutch was a little under a year ago. She takes very large breaks between clutches, so I don't worry about her becoming exhausted. Besides, she lays tiny clutches anyway. One thing I've learned from my bleus, some finches are just really horrible parents.

[cldheath44]

No rush on the pics, Cindy. We can certainly wait until your hand has healed.

That large flight in your main room sounds fantastic! Keep us updated....

Christine

[cindy]

Thanks Christine, I am trying to decide if it should be a corner unit or flat flush against the wall. We have someone coming out to trim our great oak, I am planning on keeping some of the braches for future perches for cage and the flght.

I agree Domenic or they just don't have it in them at the time...

My second pair of GBs are like that, lay a clutch of eggs, sit half way through and then roll the eggs out.

The only eager breeders so far are the Bck zebras, normals and Shaftail. The Shaftail are on a 6 to 8 month break in a large flight with the young from their last clutch. They are actually fun to watch as a group, get along great. They seem to have contests who can fly up high, taking turns. One young male loves the swing, he will sit on it and try out his voice, singing for long periods. The young all colored up nicely, pretty rose tint to their chests. When I put them back to nest we can try the egg shipping again Domenic.

[Domenic]

I agree Domenic or they just don't have it in them at the time...

Very true. You can be shocked at horrible parents who suddenly become great, or even great parents that suddenly become horrible. I think it does really depend on the environment they're in and also how many clutches they've already laid. Too many clutches and next thing you know there are babies all over the floor.

I would love to try the egg shipping again. I may even have eggs for you if you'd like them--mostly from zebras though. I have a CFW&White zebra pair that just raised two of their first babies (both babies were CFW's, one is definitely a male but I don't know about the other). They did a really great job, although the hatch rate was only 2/5 eggs so I don't know how well that would turn out if I shipped them. It was only their first time, so I'm sure more eggs will be fertile next time. My societies are also great fosters now too. I was giving them Petsmart eggs and they had to raise almost 10 chicks at one time. It was way too many and they tossed 2 or 3 of the weaker ones, but they raised the last five really well. They also raised 2 zebras for me, though I had to remove them and handfeed due to size difference issues. If we do this egg shipping I think they can handle it this time. If I sent you eggs who would you foster them under?

[cindy]

Domenic....I would foster them under the one sweet pair og Black cheeks. They are so devoted, not one tossed egg or chick that was not their own. Give me a few weeks to get the clutch they have feeding out settled and partial use of the casted hand...would you like Black cheeks? I have two different pairs, one pair lays eggs but tosses or leaves them...I can send eggs from both and from my normal zebras that produce fawns, Coco came from them. Shaftails will be at the start of the Fall I still have the 4th clutch here and would like to rehome them first.

[cindy]

I got a little surprise tonight...the other pair of Black cheek zebras have young in their nest box. I thought I heard faint begging from their box, when I got closer I could see the mom feeding a little one! Finally they did it.