Star finches

John · Post by **John** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 10:38 pm

How hard is it to breed these guys in a cage as a single pair? The cage is big enough for a pair.

Ive heard the breeding season for Brisbane Australia is spring and at the end of summer.....is this correct?

Post by **Sally** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 10:50 pm

I don't know about the breeding season in Brisbane, but I have bred Stars before. I always set mine up in breeding cages, one pair to a cage. My Stars seem to do fine in a community flight when it is not breeding time, and a nearby hospital has an aviary in its lobby, with a mixed collection of finches, and their Stars have successfully raised chicks under those circumstances. Right now, I have one pair hopefully incubating eggs (I don't do nest checks), and two other pairs acting like they have no interest in each other. They can be poor parents at times---last year, I fostered some under Societies, till the Stars decided they wanted to take care of their own.

EmilyHurd · Post by **EmilyHurd** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 4:11 am

Stars are one of the more difficult species to breed for me anyway. They have always been not the best parents!!

Post by **Sally** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 12:21 pm

I just stopped by that hospital this morning, and the pair of Stars in that aviary have 5 new fledglings. Now can you imagine, a mostly glass aviary sitting in the middle of a hospital lobby, with all that commotion around them, and they are just fabulous parents. I had a male who was the best parent the first year, far better than the female, doing most of the incubating and feeding. The next year, he acted like he'd never raised any babies before, and I had to foster two clutches before his parenting skills kicked back in. You never know with Stars.