The Newest and Tiniest

[KarenB]

Here we have four Goldbreasted babies fresh out of the nest. There were originally five. Last night I found one had fledged, and it was on the floor of the flight. I scooped him up and banded him. Not sure what happened, but maybe he got cold overnight. I found him dead this morning in the spot where I left him. Then later this morning the rest of the babies emerged.

Five is this couple's largest clutch yet, with two average per clutch. But it appears the remaining four babies are doing well so far. The male firefinch has been helping to feed.

[Jen]

KarenB

Congratulations on your cuties! Did you see my new "Tiny" photo this morning? They had only two eggs and only one hatched. But he/she is so cute! He just set on my thumb quietly so I could take his pic. What a sweetie!
What size leg band did you use? Hope the next time the parents start laying, they do as well as yours! Great job!!!

[debbie276]

Congratulations and best of luck!

[vienneparis]

KarenB
Congratulations on your new additions. Lots of luck!

[lovezebs]

KarenB

Sorry about your one little guy, but congratulations on the others. How does the male Fire fit into this scenario? Is he like a friend with benefits? LOL!!!

~Elana~

[KarenB]

lovezebs I'm not really sure why the male fire is helping out. It's like he just took over the job. The dad is just hanging out on a high perch and letting him do all the feeding now. I haven't even seen the female in a while. She has been MIA. It is rather strange. It wasn't that long ago that the fires had their own clutch, and someone tossed their babies. Both of those had food in their crops, too. So maybe he is just in parental mode and thinks they are his? Who knows how finches think.

@Jen, I will have to go find your photo. I really haven't had much time lately to do any forum surfing, so I'm a bit behind on everyone's news.

[Sally]

Congrats on the four, but sorry you lost the one. I just love these babies when they first fledge, they look so scared and vulnerable. Then in just days, they are darting around the cage like they own the place!

[Derk]

Isn't it possible for fire finches and gold-breasted waxbills to hybridize?

What is that you use on the bottom of the cage? Looks too soft for straw. Oat hay maybe? Whatever it is, it looks nice and cozy. Do you always use it, or just when they fledge? Do the droppings dry out quickly? Mold issues? My vet warned me to keep the rabbits timothy hay away from the birds as it is prone to carry mold even if you do not see or smell it. I won't be telling vet I gave a handful of grass hay to each cage of birds two days ago. Talk about commotion. They loved it so much (mostly playing and a few bad attempts at nest building, LOL) that I feel guilty I have not done this earlier.

[MiaCarter]

Aw, I'm sorry to hear about the fifth baby. What a bummer. I wonder if he was sick and the stress from that illness caused him to fledge prematurely.

I can't imagine he would die of hypothermia if he was fully feathered in an indoor setting and of fledging age. Poor little guy.

I love how fledglings tend to stick together in a little group at first. It's so darn adorable! My little zebra babies are all clumped together, with society foster mum standing guard at all times.

@Derk - that's interesting on the timothy hay as I use it all the time.
I freeze it for a couple days before usage, though, to kill off any bugs or whatnot. So hopefully that eliminates any mold spores too. And I don't use it for cage floor; more as a nesting material (and I imagine it's just as mold prone as any other natural nesting material.)

[finchmix22]

Congratulations! they are adorable! Sorry you lost one. It's always so sad, but at least four are doing well. It's great the fire finch is feeding them too!

[KarenB]

I have not been home much the past week and it seems like a lot has been going on in my absence. My macaw flew into the African flight, as in basically crash landed into it, on Saturday. I wasn't home. I came home last night to a dead female fire finch. My female GBW, who is the mother of these babies, is now missing. I have another pair of GBW who are completely ignoring the babies, and their father seems lethargic and is snuggling up with the lone baby from a previous clutch from the pair who raised these new babies, of which that hen is MIA.

My male black crowned is not acting well. I put a heat lamp in before I went to bed last night, and I left again very early this morning. Got home two and a half hours ago and took a nap (much needed). Everything is about the same right now. Still can't find the female GBW. The babies are still huddled on the floor. I think maybe they fledged too soon. The fire finch is still caring for them, and they aren't going near the heat lamp but look so pitiful all clustered together. The male black crowned is down on the bottom in front of the heat lamp. Last night he was up on the perch with his hen puffed up. I gave thrive via syringe and put it in the flight water. I wish I knew what happened, but I'm guessing it was all due to the trauma resulting from fright when the giant blue and orange bird flew at them.

I have orchard grass on the bottom of the flight and change it every other week. I've never had any problems using it. When I took nests out a while back I had a couple pair try to use it as nesting among the greenery. They much prefer the cocoa fiber so that was their way of telling me they really wanted their nesting back. They just didn't get any for a few months. They like to forage through it for seeds. I feed them seeds via a hanging feeder, so some fall to the ground. They also pick through it to find the flies. I offer bathing water on a puppy pad in the corner of the flight, and then remove it when they're done bathing. I have a layer of newspaper underneath all the grass so I just roll it all up and put new when I change it out.

I don't know if fires and GBW hybridize. I suppose it's possible. My pairs are... or should I say were ...very bonded to one another.

[MiaCarter]

Geez Louise!
When it rains it pours!

What do you mean that the GBW is missing?
Like gone from the cage? Flying around your house somewhere?

Could she have passed away inside the nest? (In fact, if mom died in the nest, that could explain why the babies are outside of the nest, even when they seem uncomfortable.)

Is the Macaw okay?
I bet they got a big fright in that cage. Especially if he got stuck on the cage or something like that.
Do you have any sliding doors on that flight? If so, could the macaw have opened one of them either intentionally or when he crashed into the flight? (And the sliding door then closed on its own?)

[KarenB]

She is literally missing. I checked the nest. She's not in it. I have not seen her anywhere.

My spouse told me the macaw flew over to the cage rather abruptly and hard and clung to the side, scaring the bajeebas out of all the finches. The macaw was removed from the side of the cage, and that's all. When I got home I discovered the dead firefinch hen. It wasn't until later when all those babies fledged that I realized their mom was missing and I first observed the male firefinch feeding the babies. Actually, one fledged before the others the day before, which had to have been Friday, and I'm pretty sure everything looked fine then, and the hen was still there. I was in and out on Friday, and I remember seeing the first little baby fledged. I actually put it in the database. I usually look all the cages over pretty well when I come home, and I don't recall anything being amiss until Saturday night. I wasn't even told about the macaw incident until the dead finch was discovered.

[MiaCarter]

KarenB -- Well that's just plain perplexing.
I wonder if she somehow slipped out of the cage? Maybe through the bars? Those waxbills can be super tiny.
But even if that did happen, I imagine you'd see her flying around at some point.

(Though if you have any floral swags or plants, I'd peek in those. I'd tap them with a broom handle or similar to spook her out of them. I had a situation where a cage fell and broke apart and I searched the room without seeing several birds. They were so incredibly still, hiding in a plant and on pencils inside a mug on the desk.)

I hope she's not hiding in the house. It won't be long until she dies of dehydration. I'd put a cup of water and seed on top of her home cage just in case.

[Derk]

I had a GBW hen 'disappear' on me last year. I was as perplexed as you are. There were no cage doors open etc and the male was inside. I live alone so no one else could have let her out. I found her later that day sitting on top of the cage. I assume somehow she either lifted a guillotine style door or she managed to fly between the bars. I have had a few people tell me that it occasionally happens if something scares them. I hope you find your little one soon!

Hope the other birds also get over their scare.