Peter's Twinspots

[MariusStegmann]

Rox Anymore chicks or is the cupboard bare? I must congratulate you on your patience. I would have tried to look into the nest with a webcam or something simylar.

[lovezebs]

Rox

He's not grumpy looking at all, he's gorgeous!

[monotwine]

Rox sorry catching up on your awesome news now only! CONGRATULATIONS that is indeed a fantastic feat and one you two can be proud of. Its all that wonderful husbandry you and your mum give the birds.

[tt101]

Rox sorry catching up on your awesome news now only! CONGRATULATIONS that is indeed a fantastic feat and one you two can be proud of. Its all that wonderful husbandry you and your mum give the birds.

Hey monique! How have you been?!

[Rox]

MariusStegmann@monotwine

Marius, it's just the one. But as you mentioned to me, it's a great sign that the pair took the time to rear one chick, instead of tossing and starting again. I'm sure they will probably have more in the nest round

Monique, thank you!! My mom and I were like kids over the weekend. Totally impressed with ourselves, hahaha

[MariusStegmann]

Rox Did you look inside the nest? Did you find dud eggs or dead chicks.

[Rox]

MariusStegmann nope, I haven't looked inside. There is a chance that they will reuse the nest, so I avoid fiddling too much. I would have to completely break it open. It's a very tempting idea though!

[MariusStegmann]

Rox I doubt it that they will reuse it, unless you remove the inner bit of the nest with all the droppings. Even one little baby can make a lot of crap.

[Rox]

MariusStegmann One thing I have noticed with my birds, is that they always seem to build their next nest in the same general area as the previous nest. It's because of this that I don't want to break into the old one and disturb any new building which may be going on and potentially spook the parents (or other birds nesting close by). I only do a major cleanup of old nests once a year, when I replace the brush for the new breeding season.

The only nest checks and regular cleaning of nest boxes I do, is for the gouldians. They couldn't give a toss if I interfere or not

[MariusStegmann]

Rox It clearly works for you. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Rox]

Well that was short-lived. After not seeing the fledgling during the week, I did a thorough aviary check on Saturday and found him dead under some grass in the nesting area. It looks like he had already passed away during the week The only think I can think of, was that the parents were not feeding him properly, as his crop was completely empty. We are devastated

Not sure why the parents would go through the effort of getting him to fledge and then abandon. Perhaps as mentioned previously, one chick was just not worth the effort to continue?

Hopefully they will go to nest again soon and have a bigger clutch

[monotwine]

oh no. Sorry Rox. I too have had that experience when parents think twice about rearing a single chick and get distracted by starting a new nest.
Such a shame.

[Sally]

Oh no, that is devastating news! Probably they decided one baby wasn't worth the effort, but you have to wonder why they would have fed for several weeks then. No telling what is in their little birdie brains. Hopefully, they will try for a second clutch.

[Rox]

monotwine@Sally

Thanks Ladies, hopefully we will have round two and that there will be a better result. If they do have another clutch, I will definitely be keeping a better eye on fledglings to make sure that they are feeding!

[slwatson]

Rox

I'm just reading this thread...I'm so sorry the baby didn't make it! I had a similar thing happen with an owl finch. The parents stopped feeding it and I found it dead in the nest.

I hope they successfully raise a second clutch! At least they've got the right idea now