Straw-tail Whydah

[JohnBoy]

My male is coming into breeding condition. Notice the straw tail feathers he is starting to get. They lay their eggs in the purple grenadiers nest so Sally sent me some grenadier nest from her aviary. We are hoping the scent of the grenadiers will be enough to entice the female to lay. In the event that she does I will try and foster the eggs under societies. One day I will get a pair of grenadiers. I just have never seen a pair that look good when they are available at fairs.

[cindy]

Very nice John, good luck! Hope the nests work!!!

[arielbergmanfinch]

very nice pair I hope they will breed the vidua family are very very hard to breed in captivity good luck!!

[JohnBoy]

very nice pair I hope they will breed the vidua family are very very hard to breed in captivity good luck!!

And I don't need another challenge.

[nelloyello11]

Beautiful birds! Best wishes for some fertile eggs and healthy chickies!

[arielbergmanfinch]

LOL.
To tell you the truth I am also trying to breed the paradise whydah I bought their a pair of their host which are called Orange winged pytilia few months ago but unfortunately the female pytilia and the male of the paradise whydah died from the cold in Winter and since then I have male pytilia and two females of paradise whydah but I noticed that one of the females is a young male because he singing all the day long and also have more black feathers on his back, his head and his wings so I have a pair
Somebody know when he will get adult male breeding plumage??

[JohnBoy]

LOL.
To tell you the truth I am also trying to breed the paradise whydah I bought their a pair of their host which are called Orange winged pytilia few months ago but unfortunately the female pytilia and the male of the paradise whydah died from the cold in Winter and since then I have male pytilia and two females of paradise whydah but I noticed that one of the females is a young male because he singing all the day long and also have more black feathers on his back, his head and his wings so I have a pair
Somebody know when he will get adult male breeding plumage??

My male paradise is coming into breeding plumage now. I also lost my female and my pair of Melbas during the winter months. My aviaries are heated but I think the dampness got to them. Melbas do not like the dampness.

[6finchfriends]

I'll be hoping for eggs soon! I hope it works. I thought you meant that they lay eggs in other birds nests like Cow Birds do. (where they lay one egg and that chick pushes all the others out and the foster parents end up feeding the chick that killed their own babies) I don't think I could raise birds that do that!

[MadHatter]

You had the right idea 6finchfriends. They lay their eggs in the host species nest and the young are rasied by the host parents. Unlike cowbirds and cuckoos however, the Whydah chicks dont toss their host nestmates out of the nest, but rather are raised alongside them.

[arielbergmanfinch]

LOL.
To tell you the truth I am also trying to breed the paradise whydah I bought their a pair of their host which are called Orange winged pytilia few months ago but unfortunately the female pytilia and the male of the paradise whydah died from the cold in Winter and since then I have male pytilia and two females of paradise whydah but I noticed that one of the females is a young male because he singing all the day long and also have more black feathers on his back, his head and his wings so I have a pair
Somebody know when he will get adult male breeding plumage??

My male paradise is coming into breeding plumage now. I also lost my female and my pair of Melbas during the winter months. My aviaries are heated but I think the dampness got to them. Melbas do not like the dampness.

sorry to hear about that:( the pytilia family are very gentele birds.
my male paradise hydahh is a juvenile I think and I have no idea in what age he will get his breeding plumage

[6finchfriends]

I hope you don't mind another question. If they lay eggs and the other finches raise their chicks, who will sit and raise yours if you only have a nest and not the foster parents? Will you put the eggs in an incubator or under societies? Very interesting. I hope you will post more on this.