Odd occurance grass finch nest

[cjkrit]

My grass finch pair decided to nest in the typical L-shaped Gouldian type nest.
Four babies hatched and they were just starting to get little feathers.
Yesterday morning 2 were lying on the floor and little while later 2 more.
My gardener who also cares for the finches says he saw a Gouldian entering the nest.
Is this the type of behavior to be expected from Gouldians?
I am not impressed at all!!
It is a large 6m X 6M aviary with plenty of nesting space and also quite a few empty nests tot choose from.
Comments or similar experiences?

[Colt]

Unfortunately this is one of the downsides to breeding in a mixed aviary. The collection looks beautiful, but in the wild it doesn't really occur in a closed in space like that. The birds have larger territories so they aren't "competing" for nesting sites.

Last year I had a flight cage with a pair of Owls, Gouldians, and Stars in it. Everyone got along fabulously until they all went to nest within days of each other. All the nests were in corners but the males, especially the Gouldian was an absolute tyrant. I finally had to hang a solid divider to block the line of sight from the Owl nest to the Gouldian nest as he would not allow the Owl pair out of their nest in order to eat or drink. It was very frustrating.

That being said, in the wild breeding birds will often respond to the alarm calls of another species if for instance a snake or other small predator is spotted near the nest. They band together to drive it away for the benefit of their own chicks, but the cooperation is interesting.

As to why the male did it when other available boxes could be had, I'd hazard a guess that the particular box being used is in the best position, causing multiple pairs to vie for that particular site.

You might increase the density of plantings in the aviary in order to give some of the birds more natural and less obtrusive nests, or you might try placing the nest boxes all at equal heights across the aviary facing many directions and "well-hidden" buy artificial or live plants so that one in particular doesn't become the coveted nesting site.