FINCHforum

The purpose of this thread is to keep track of my experience with my birds and share them with anyone who might be interested in keeping them.

I received my pair of Amethyst Starling January 24th, 2015 from Su Yin in the DFW area. I brought the birds home from a spacious flight cage and placed them into a Prevue Double-flight cage with a pair of Bourke Parakeets, pair of Diamond Doves, and a pair of Java Rice Sparrows.

Initially the male was very skittish, flying to the opposite end of the flight that I was closest to. The hen was much calmer until I actually opened the doors to change out food or water. Then she would usually join the male, but in a much less panicked state. While the Starlings never behaved aggressively towards any bird in the flight, on occasion the Javas would bully them off the perch if they were intent on not sharing.

Their diet consists of Roudybush Nibbles, XS Fruit Blend Zupreem, Pretty Bird Daily Select Mini and Small pellets, as well as Pretty Bird Softbill Diet pellets as a dry diet. Bugs N' Berries, Goldenfeast Lory Nectar, organic applesauce and fresh fruits are offered every other day in a separate dish. Live mealworms and Phoenix Worms have also been offered and devoured with much gusto. My eggfood is also offered to the flight although I have never seen either of the Starlings consume any.

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=31580

The flight cage is well "planted"/decorated with a variety of plastic and silk plants, as well as many perching and nesting opportunities. I ordered a Cockatiel box with the intention of giving it to them to potentially use for breeding, but it is absolutely huge. Instead I placed a large Parakeet box on the outside of the cage in hopes that one of the three pairs might be enticed to use it.

Sadly about two months after coming home I found the male Starling dead on the floor of the flight. I'm not sure what happened as the birds had food and water available. He didn't appear to have died from any external cause. It honestly looked like he'd just fallen from his perch dead to the floor. He had been going through a very rough molt as Starlings are apt to do. (Those familiar with Gouldians sometimes see similar molts.) His age is also unknown as he was a wild-caught import, rather than captive-bred. I immediately began searching for the hen and couldn't find her anywhere. I even turned on the lights to the bird room so I could see without using my egg candler as a small flash light. I went through the plants, the floor, everywhere I could think of. Finally in a panic I started checking the nest boxes and lo and behold the hen was in the Parakeet nest box. She'd been working the box and had apparently decided to start a family. After nearly having a heart attack at being unable to find her I was relieved but quite sad at the same time. For days she called for her mate and apparently losing him threw her out of breeding mode. I'd hoped she might lay and incubate a clutch in which case I'd help supplement the chicks. And worse case foster the eggs under my Diamond Dove pairs and then hand rear the chicks myself.

Since her mate's death the hen has calmed down even more, calmly watching me until I reach into the cage where she moves away and continues to watch me from atop a nest box. Her old box was taken over by the Bourke Parakeet pair (who have five adorably fuzzy babies) and she hasn't shown any interest in another.

I am still looking to find her another mate in hopes that a male ready to breed and the hen would quickly get down to business if they bond well.

Currently the hen is housed with the following species with no problems: Gouldians, Societies, Owls, Bourke Parakeets, Javas, Diamond Doves, and Button Quail. Everything but the Javas are breeding so her size doesn't seem to bother them. And she's really quite calm with them. I've even seen the tiny Owls cuddling next to her.

So sorry for your loss, Colt. Hoping you are able to find a new mate for your lone Starling.

Thank you Ginene. I really hope to find one soon once it's warmed up enough for shipping. I had some friends scout the Orlando Bird Mart and none were to be found.

Interesting diet, I would think they'd be much more carnivorous, not so fruit-oriented, as European starlings are often maintained on dog or cat food as a base. I don't know off-hand if the two are truly that closely related though.

Starlings are some of my favorite birds but any of the tropical species are leaps and bounds beyond my price range now and probably ever. Last spring I was really into European starlings though and really wanted one as a pet, I scoured the neighborhood searching for a fallen nestling or later on a nest low enough to raid for one, but never found such. I'd still love one now but wouldn't go out of my way to get such a pet as I have a lot more birds now than then and one dependent velcro bird already with my Gracie-tiel, who is about the neediest and most temperamental little guy in the world. I'm his b*tch and he knows it, but I don't really mind because he's so cute...

So very sorry you lost male Starling.

Sorry for the loss of your male

On a positive note, you are obviously doing something very right to get the hen in nesting mode. Holding thumbs that you find a new male soon!

A few days ago I came across this species totally unexpectedly on a local market, priced at $50 for a pair and just couldn't resist!
There was only a small number of coloured males, and I ended up with a rather skinny but otherwise totally healthy-looking specimen - hope it will put on weight!
There were many more uncolored birds, sold as "young males", among which I spotted one lacking white gapes and thus more likely to be a hen - which is what I bought it for.
They seem surprisingly relaxed even in a small cage, and are particularly fond of bananas.

Supposedly more imports will follow, also of Emerald Starlings at the same price. There was now just one Emerald left at the trader, horribly stressed. I have since heard that Emeralds are always that way, which is rather off-putting despite their beauty!

Another problem seems to be sexing them.
Apparently 80-90% of female colored amethysts later turn out out be young males and change colour, while emeralds are impossible to sex visually.

In any case, stunning birds, and their relatively small size makes them all the more tempting!

So sorry Colt for your loss, sorry the hen lost her mate.

I now have two pairs of these lovely birds. Congrats on your new pair. I'll be interested to see how yours do. Right now mine are eating pellets and apple sauce. They aren't fond of the lory nectar or powder, the Blessings Bugs N' Berries, or the Blessings Fruit Gel...but I'll keep trying.

Colt

Have you tried fresh fruit and flightless fruit flies?

Fresh fruit? What's that? lol They love banana (but I hate them so much)! Fruit is kinda out of season right now, but I have a some I've sliced up and frozen to thaw and give them each day. With my crazy schedule it's a lot easier to rip the top off a cup of fruit sauce than to slice up fruit. And they are so large I don't imagine they'd even notice fruit flies...except that I would... They adore Phoenix Worms but they are so expensive! They won't touch eggfood even with live mealworms which I've been told is because it isn't sweet enough for them.

Colt

What, you don't like flightless fruit flies? Ok, mini crickets then
I know phoenix worms are extremely expensive (I can't afford them either ).

Mine do eat mealworms though they seem to throw more on the aviary floor than actually eat. Well, at least they don't just ignore them. They do ignore crickets though which surprised me. They also ignored papayas, the only fruit apart from bananas I tried giving them.
They are doing fine, though the male still looks skinny but healthy just as first time - maybe he'll just stay that way.

I know Su Yin who used to be an active member fed her pair (the pair I initially bought) papaya and they loved it. I know they adore banana and mine devour the apple sauce.