St Helena, RCCB, Owls and Shaftails...more pictures

[dfcauley]

Shaftails love a nest box. Even if they are not mating they will go in and out of one all day long. Mine sleep in a nest.
Another thing I have noticed...... two males will go through the mating ritual. I have seen this over and over with my pair of red head parrot finches. I thought they were mating also...... come to find out they were both males.

[cindy]

Donna where yours doing the dance courting ritual or you know the other thing?

The male shaftail was trying to mate the female, it was clumsy and probably not sucessful. She just likes the box, sittng in it or on the edge, he is more excited than she. She seems to wiggle away to avoid mating. She instinctively may know she is not ready.

He has the long tail extensions, hers are just starting to show past the main tail feathers, she may be a little younger than he is. They are both about the same size. I had another female to choose from but she was smaller. I felt it was best to go with a bigger female if they bred. Besides the female I did get has a darker head color that is kind of smokey colored.

Oh I did read somewhere that they like to roost in a box even when not mating.

My owls slept in a nest or a box from the first night and showed no real interest in breeding, the 1 male attempted the dance a few times, some building then quit, the female was not interested.

The other pair showed no interest in courting or building until now. The owls are between 1 and 2 yrs old. both pairs are courting.

In all the times before and now when I have had finches/lovebirds/parrotlets I have had boxes or nest in the cages/flights. I was never in a rush to get birds to breed. Most of the time they all slept in them or it was a place to retreat to if I was cleaning and fedding. When they were ready they bred.

Some had a nest for about 8 months which put them at about 1 year old or older and they still did not mate until maybe a few months after that. I have never had an egg bound female. All my finches have had a nest or box since the day they arrived, so far they have not laid eggs.

I can't be positive about the Helenas but I think as time goes by I am pretty sure the sound I hear and thought was a chick or two was a noise from another pair of finches.

I have had finches off and on for over 40 years since I was a girl. We had pairs of every kind of finch you could find. At that time they we bountiful in supply and had no bans on importing like they do now. The finches we find hard to find now a days were so readily available back then.