Nesting Activity - Indian Ringnecked Parrot

I thought I best produce a timeline of nesting activity for the Indian Ringnecked Parrots

1st August - Introduced nesting box (height 43cm, width 23cm, depth 23cm) on a shelf at the rear of the aviary about two thirds from the ground and I half filled it with non toxic saw dust.

A few days after introducing the nesting box I witnessed breeding and noticed removal of some nesting material from the box.

12th August - Found the first egg in the box, this was followed by an egg every two days after until there was four by the 18th August. It was noted during this time the female "Nelly" would spend most of the day outside the box but sleep inside during the night.

5th September - In the afternoon I discovered the first egg started to hatch; I found the following morning that the hole was only slightly bigger.

Egg the following morning (6th September)

"Nelly" with eggs (a rare sight)

6th September - First egg hatched and it was promptly followed by the second egg the next day. I went away for the weekend leaving for two nights and when came back on the Monday afternoon the further two eggs attempted to hatch (cracked holes) but had failed and the chicks died. I have since removed the eggs from the box.

16th September - The chicks have grown well and I have handle each for the first time; the parents food intake has increased for the chicks also. It appears one will be a light colour (Albino, Creamino) and the other will be darker (Blue, Pastel Blue); this seems to be obvious by the eye colour (the older is darker and the younger has lighter eyes).

20th September - The chicks growing well and are obviously two different colours. I have been handling them the last few days (once in the morning and once in the afternoon).

Light eyes

Dark eyes

Gouldian Finches

The Gouldian Finches have also made there intentions made clear that they would like to start laying eggs. They built a make shift nest out of grass on the side of the aviary with in two days.

As a result I have introduced the finch nesting box back into the aviary using there dried grass a internal nesting material. I craft a hollow round ball in the nesting box out of the dried grass. I have been told Gouldian Finches are particularly lazy in building there own nest; something definitely not shared by my pair. The male has since taken up century duty at the entrance as the female has disappeared inside. 

Dried grass used as nesting material in a commercial "finch" sized box

New breeding season

The signs of a new breeding season are beginning to show. The interaction between pairs are a real sign but my hand rared male Indian Ring Neck parrot has given his real and obvious intention to produce young. 

He has become aggressive!! as he does every year until the eggs are hatched; he generally goes for my hand while I try to change the water.

Non toxic saw dust used as nesting material

I have thus introduced the nesting box back into the aviary. I'm expecting eggs by the end of August.

Spring has sprung!!

Commercial "Parrot nesting material" available from a pet shop used, she chose a "Cockatiel" sized nesting box.

I introduced some nesting boxes into my larger mixed aviary to offer some protection from the element to my birds in winter (anything to avoid the loss of bird experienced last year).

It has resulted in my Bourke female laying eggs earlier than I would like. I believe this is her third clutch and she is yet to hatch anything; I will let her finish the clutch and see how things progress.

Inbreeding

Unfortunately with my Jap Quails I got to witness the side effects of inbreeding. When I purchased them he questioned if I was going to breed them or just use them to keep the aviary floor clean and now I know why...
I was suspicious when one started pecking the side wall of the aviary for no apparent reason.

Of the five I purchased one got a large growth around the neck area and the rest got some sort of foot growth to make there feet swell. There natural short life span has left me with one left.

It is a sad fact that this is probably a common practice to achieve colour mutations and just poor practice of a large colony breed birds.

Soaked Seed

A while back a purchased a male Scarlet Chested Parrot from a breeder who had some strong opinions about breeding birds and he mentioned the benefits of soaked seed.

I then found some documentation online but it seemed mostly to do with finches but I have since also found a lot about parrots as well.

I have put it on my to do list but until now I haven't given it a go. It is fairly simple it is basically washing, then soaking, then draining and waiting for the seed to sprout. I have used my normal seed mixture and from what I have read you are to make sure there is no bad or mouldy odour.

This offers a lot of nutritional value for the bird and simulates what they would forage for in the wild.

I have included a YouTube video that explains the process.

There was positive response by all my birds to the soaked seed and there was very little if any left in there cages this morning. It is definitely something that I'll do more often from now on.  

Cockatiel (Leptolophus hollandicus)

Cockatiel

Leptolophus hollandicus

Also known as Quarrion

Sexing -


The male has more yellow face than the female. The female
has yellow banding in  the tail feathers which the male lacks.


Noise -

Medium, they can produce a decent chirp if needed but generally fairy quite.

General care -

I will be keeping my had rared Cockatiel inside, so she will be higher maintenance with general cleaning and I will be handling her often to keep her tame and get her used to me.

Breeding -

I will not be breeding this Cockatiel. At least for now.

Red Rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus)

Red Rumped Parrot

Male (above), female (below)

Psephotus haematonotus


Commonly known as Grass Parrot. They are quite a beautiful bird not alway captured in a image or even seen when walking past them in a cage. When I first seen them in the wild when I was in Marulan  for work was the first time a really appriciated what a beautiful bird they were.


Sexing -


The female is duller and lacks the "Red Rump"


Noise -


Medium, can be noisy when bickering but in general appear fairly quite.


General care -


I hoping they are very hardy and low maintence bird. Provide Fruit, vegetables, greens, grasses and seed daily like all my birds enjoy.


Breeding -


This is a young pair and can breed as of this year (August to December will be there season).

I will provide a selection of boxes but I expect they will probably choose a larger square box.

Nowra Bird Sale

This year I decided to invest in some new breeds of parrot at the Nowra bird sale.

Unlike previous years I believe the rain scared off a few attendants which made it a lot more pleasant to walk around and view the birds.

This year I was particularly interested in Eastern Rosella or Galah but the lack of Galah's or the a reasonably priced pair of Eastern Rosella seen me settle for two other breed that have interested me also.

I purchased a pair of Red Rumps also commonly known as Grass Parrots for $30 to be placed in my larger aviary. They had a bit of of a sorting out period when the Princess Parrot decided to show there dominance of the aviary even fighting between each other but it soon settled down.

I also purchased a hand raised Cockatiel for $35. My son has taken a particular interest in "her" a think they will bond well once he learn she doesn't always want to play!I find myself saying "gentle" a lot. She will live inside for the time being, I'm excited to have another hand raised bird  to interact with.

MIA Gouldian Finch Chicks

A family emergency left my birds to fend for themselves for a lot longer then normal. I returned to find only one Gouldian Finch chick in the nesting box and the other two were missing. I quick scout of the aviary floor produced one chick alive and well that had tried the leap of faith a little too early. The other took sometime to locate; it was dead in the front corned of the nesting box under some grass (causes unknown).

The feathered chick should be flying around within a few days.

9/2 Lost my smaller Gouldian finch yesterday. It way half way across the aviary (too far for the amount of feathers it had) and found my other nearly fledged one out of the box again this morning, I returned it by but it was dead when I got home from work today in a similar position to the other.

Lost all my Gouldian finch chicks which is really shitty to say the least. Maybe inexperienced parents or maybe vermin (although no evidence of late and I do bate where the food is kept)