Star's beak color

H2015 · Post by **H2015** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 9:52 am

I have a Star female who's beak was red, not intense as the males but it was all red for sure. Now at the base of the beak it's getting much lighter and slowly starting to increase, like the color is fading.

I have a florescent light over them and none of the other birds are experiencing anything similar.

Aside from the beak color she seems perfectly fine, here's their diet:
- Trill seed mix available at all times (it has crushed shells mixed in for calcium)
- Powered kelp/Charcoal in cups
- Dried egg food available daily
- Fresh egg food every once in a while
- Spray millet
- Hanging honey treats
- Cuttlebone

Is this something I should be concerned about or normal?

Thanks

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 10:03 am

I don't know if it's something to be concerned about or if this is a normal happenstance. I've only had my pair of Stars for 7 months.

How old is she? Could she be a yellow-faced hen? My female Star is a yellow-faced but is more orange than yellow and not nearly as red as the male.

BTW - I did not know Star Finches needed iodine whatsoever. May I ask why you are giving them powdered kelp? Should I give this to mine as well?

Post by **Sally** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 10:17 am

Liz - I have a pair of Stars in with a pair of Gouldians, and I noticed one of the Stars at the kelp cup the other day, just chowing down. I wonder if it is common to all Australian finches, the need for extra iodine. Anyway, I'm going to put a kelp cup in every cage that has Australian finches and see what happens.

H2015 - I have not noticed this happening with my Stars, so can't help you with that.

H2015 · Post by **H2015** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 11:02 am

How old is she?

I have no idea but I don't think she's old cause they were recently imported when I first bought her but again there is a possibility that they imported older birds I guess.

BTW - I did not know Star Finches needed iodine whatsoever. May I ask why you are giving them powdered kelp? Should I give this to mine as well?

They share the flight with shaft tails and gouldians so the kelp is there for the goulds but like Sally, I noticed both the shaft-tails and star finches try it a few times.

I'm currently searching online and I found this about Zebra finches:

In previous work, we showed that variation in the sexually attractive red carotenoid-colored beak of male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) was predicted not by the amount of food or pigments ingested, but by the levels of carotenoids that birds circulated in blood. Here we elucidate a novel physiological mechanism by which birds are able to accumulate high levels of carotenoids in the body and develop a colorful bill. Carotenoids are transported through the bloodstream bound to lipoproteins. We assayed a critical component of lipoprotein particles–cholesterol–and found that males with higher cholesterol levels circulated more carotenoids and displayed redder beaks. Experimental supplementation of dietary cholesterol elevated carotenoid levels in the blood and beak hue. Experimental reductions in blood cholesterol, using the human lipid-lowering agent atorvastatin, diminished blood carotenoids and faded the beak; carotenoid and cholesterol levels were restored, however, by subsequent addition of dietary cholesterol. These results suggest that the production of circulating lipoproteins critically regulates the development of a colorful sexually selected trait in zebra finches.

Not sure if that can be related to my female Star or not.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 11:08 am

Thanks for the tip - I'll add powdered kelp to the Stars' cage as well and watch to see if they 'attack' it too.

I wonder if your female's beak colouring is a seasonal change...

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 2:47 pm

I keep powdered kelp and charcoal available at all times mostly for my gouldians. But since I have a mixed aviary I have noticed that all my birds eat it. My stars love charcoal and kelp both.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 3:15 pm

I also have charcoal and other 'boutique' dishes available in every cage (ie - Herb Salad, Oyster Grit, Orlux Egg food) but I only had the powdered kelp in with the Gouldians. Now I'll add it for the Stars too.

What about the Society's, when they are fostering Gouldie babies? (sorry to hijack the thread!) Should they also have the powdered kelp so they can feed it to the babies? I do give them liquid iodine once a week in their water.

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 7:07 pm

I have some society in with gouldians and have seen them eatting the powdered kelp,I don't think it was a lot but it can't hurt

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 7:29 pm

B CAMP wrote:I have some society in with gouldians and have seen them eatting the powdered kelp,I don't think it was a lot but it can't hurt

Great! Thanks Bill.

H2015 · Post by **H2015** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:23 am

I've never stopped searching throughout all this time, but I finally came across this website:
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze8aart/id25.html

So from what I understand, my finch has carotenoid defeciency cause that would be the only explanation for the faded red on her beak.

I will be adding more carotenoid enriched sources into their diet and will see if that makes any difference!

H2015 · Post by **H2015** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:30 am

And I just noticed that when I first wrote this thread, I mentioned that the fading was only obvious at the base of the beak but right now the entire beak has faded. She looks odd next to the other stars.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:51 am

How many other stars do you have? It's a little unusual that if it's a diet based change, that only one of the Stars would be going through this. Is she will active and healthy every other way?

Post by **Sally** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 3:42 pm

H2015 wrote:I've never stopped searching throughout all this time, but I finally came across this website:
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze8aart/id25.html

Really interesting link--thanks! I'm going to try out some things I read there.

franny · Post by **franny** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 3:47 pm

H2015,

That's a great link! I'm going to try some of it, too. Would be interesting to see if I see any increase in color on my GBs orange breast feathers.

Even though it's just the one star, could be it isn't eating something that the others seem to like, or it could be some sort of deficiency so that it isn't absorbing the nutrients it needs at the same rate as the others. Let us know if you see any improvement in color when you've been feeding more of those suggested veggies/spices.

H2015 · Post by **H2015** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 12:39 pm

I have three red headed stars (2 males and 1 female), I think she's the only one affected cause she's been regularly laying eggs for quite awhile (without a nest in there). I also don't feed my bird veggies and none of the food sources I give contain carotenoids aside from the egg food which apparently isn't enough so that could be why.

Or she may have an absorption issue as Franny mentioned, but fortunately aside from the color she seems absolutely fine. I added paprika in the egg food today and provided some chopped vegetables, will see how it goes and glad the link was helpful