Lavender waxbills

[w.l.]

Btw, I can't find the topic where we discussed chestnut-breasts, so will post you this pic here. A few days ago a shipment of sharpis arrived on my regular market. They are sold for ca $8 each!
And are in good condition, as you can see:

FB_IMG_1487412839051.jpg

You could buy a whole flock at that price, couldn't you?

[isobea]

w.l. - I believe my female was plucked (most likely in quarantine they said). I would love to put them out into my aviary but right now the nights are still too cold (about 10 to 13 C). So I put their cage out onto my orchid patio when it's warm and sunny (most of the day). The lattice panels allow for the perfect combination of sun and shade. As for the food, I offer a wide variety of seeds, greens, some fruit and egg food with some pulverized freeze dried blood worms added. Surprisingly they go for the egg food as soon as I put it out in the morning.

Thanks for the picture of the sharpiis. You are right, I at that price I could buy a whole flock. I would have to add another section to my aviary but why not. Gorgeous birds! How many did you buy?
Iso

[w.l.]

How many did you buy?

Not one, as I already have 7, though they are so beautiful I am tempted to add anither pair. Along with black & whites and tricolors, I consider them the prettiest Lonchuras.

[isobea]

w.l. -So did you buy another pair? Are you good at telling males and females apart? I checked a number of pictures on Google images and can only see very subtle differences.

lovezebs - Elana, have you tried feeding your lavenders fruit? My male prefers apple and the female loves pear more than anything else. Both like grape halves and peach. Tomorrow I'll try banana.
Iso

[w.l.]

As I had told you, I had not bought any.

I never gave my Lavenders fruit.
I have enough fruit to be fed to my bulbuls, white-eyes, starlings, hanging parrots and lorikeets! Are you even trying the "dry nectar" suggested by the German book?

And, after all, agree with my initial opinion of Lavenders being the most charming and fascinating waxbills?

[isobea]

w.l. - In your post from 2/18 you said you were tempted to buy another pair of chestnut breasts hence my question if you did.

Anyway, back to the lavenders: no, I have not attempted to make my own 'dry nectar'. Looked at the recipe at the beginning of that German book but never got further than that.
On p. 212 in that same book they mention that lavenders love sweet fruit like grapes, so I decided to give it a try. So far they don't seem to like grapes as much as apple and pear slices.
You do know that I bought my lavenders because you said they are your favorite waxbills, don't you? And yes, they sure are active, inquisitive and very pretty. I love watching them when they climb around in the eucalyptus branches. They are my only birds who actually seek out skinny little twigs that droop down, climbing around on them, checking them out and at times hang upside down from them. I'm sure as time goes by I will observe even more of their different behaviors.
Iso

[isobea]

A quick update: my lavenders have now been outside in the aviary for almost a week and the cool nights don't seem to bother them at all. In fact, the female's feathers are growing back nicely and she looks so much better.
This morning I noticed the female calling a lot so I tried to find the male. He was very well hidden in one of the artificial nest cubicles I made a long time ago. There are several of them in my aviary and my new shaft tails promptly moved into one of them, built a nice nest inside and laid 5 or 6 eggs. Anyway, my male lavender hangs out a lot in the one he picked and keeps waiting for the female to come check it out. I checked the inside and found a very thin layer of coconut fiber completely lining the inside. Does that mean anything? Or is this just where they sleep? But then why would he be hanging out in there in the daytime (bright sunshine and about 74 F inside the aviary)?
I'll try to attach a picture of one of those nests I made.
Iso

[marymac]

isobea
I like the nest!!

[lovezebs]

isobea

Good morning Iso,

How are the kids coming along?

[MisterGribs]

isobea

Cute nest! Birds love to sleep in their cosy nest, but if they are building one, they are planning a clutch! As long as you don't change anything close to the nest they should continue to expand and eventually mate.

[isobea]

lovezebs - Hi Elana, you know it's funny but the female (who was plucked so badly when I got her) is now way more active than the male and she looks great. The male seems to still hang out in that nest on and off during the day. I checked it this morning and found that he (or they) pooped in it quite a bit. Very odd. I don't know what to make of that.
How are your kids doing? What kind of fruit do they like? I found that mine don't like to eat the same kind of fruit two days in a row. I had planned on getting mealworms for everybody yesterday but it rained all day long (3 inches -can you believe it?). The yard at the mealworm farm is unpaved so even today it would be way to muddy. So I'll go first thing in the morning.

MisterGribs - There are a lot of different building materials available at all times so I'll just keep an eye on what they are up to. But it would be exciting if they started a real nest.

Iso

[MisterGribs]

isobea My older pair of zeebs poop in their nest too, IDK what's the matter with them! I have to change their nest bedding all the time.

[lovezebs]

isobea

Hi Iso,

Glad to hear that the kids are making themselves at home . Maybe they built an out-house not a nest

My guys, are doing well, thanks.

The Lavenders absolute favorite fruits are Oranges. I cut up large Navel Oranges into slices and everyone loves them (myself included). Both the Lavenders and the Javas go crazy over them.

I can't believe how much rain you've been getting. Hard to believe that only last year, you were suffering from a long lasting drought.

We are being promised a cold wet Spring, grrrr.

[isobea]

lovezebs - Hi Elana, thanks for letting me know about oranges. Haven't tried those yet, only tangerines (from my tree) but they didn't seem to be too interested. Their favorite veggie seems to be cucumber slices. Let's keep experimenting and then we can compare notes.
Iso

PS: I sent you a PM

[w.l.]

isobea

Are the Lavenders displaying their typical ever active and curious behaviour that makes them my favourite in your aviary too?

They are nest sleepers so merely building a nest doesn't really mean they are to breed.
However if they are a good pair, in your huge aviary they really should breed eventually.
But if you also want to breed other birds in the same place, watch that the Lavenders don't disturb their nests!