And then there were four

My first year my Indian Ringnecks have produced four young. It appears three maybe a lighter colour via eye colour.

14th September

Green Cheeked Conure - First egg broken

My female Green Cheeked Conure had been staying in the breeding box and I assumed she had at east one egg but would not allow me a look. However yesterday morning I found her out of the box and thought it would be a great time to see how many eggs she had however I only found one broken one...

I have since removed the egg from the box and very hopeful that it doesn't affect their breeding season.

In good news my third Indian Ringneck hatched this morning!!

12th September 6.45am

First baby Indian Ringnecks

8th September 6.45 am

My first two baby Indian Ringneck's hatched on 9th September. I first noticed a chip in one of the eggs on the morning of the 8th of September but they were not hatched until the following afternoon.

9th September 5.30 pm

Taronga Zoo

We decided to take our son to Taronga Zoo (also my wife's and my first visit). 

It provided some great bird life to view. There was a free flight show that always fascinates me how they keep the birds from simply just flying away (It would have been a even better if I could view the birds after the show). It also had a large walk in aviary with many different birds but seemed to be a large amount of Scaly breasted Lorikeet compared to anything else but the highlight for me was being able to get very close to a Yellow tailed Black Cockatoo.

Indian Ringneck Parrot - Nesting

My ever reliable breeding pair of Indian Ringneck Parrot's "Nippet" and "Nelly". I seem to have down pact with breeding.

1. Introduce breeding box at start of August. Then breeding activities start such as removing nesting material from the box to suit and aggression toward me by "Nippet".

2. Mid August the first egg is laid and by a week all four have been laid. 

Bird Escape

I'm very dirty on myself!

I so very careful in regards to aviary doors but for the first time I must not have latched a door correctly and my female Red Rumped Parrot escaped. I found the door just a jar and my new female was gone.

Just not a good feeling knowing your mistake has lost the bird for good. First and last time hopefully.

Wollongong Bird Sale

I attended the first of what hopefully will become an annual occurrence

Wollongong Bird Sale

Similar to the Nowra Bird Sale in amount of birds and people attending but just in a bigger venue (this made it a lot more pleasant to walk around a view the birds).

The variations of amount and type of bird seems to be different at each sale I attend but the more common birds such a cockatiel and Budgie always seem to to available in large numbers.

I enjoyed a number of the sellers giving me some time to answer some questions I had and found it very helpful.

I purchased a female Gouldian Finch ($25) and a female Red Rump Parrot ($15) to be paired with my two males who have lost there mates.

Parrot Re-Homing

I have become a bit of a parrot re-homer. 

I have taken on two Indian Ringnecks that became a little too much for their owners. "Turk" that I have had for a while and "Beau Beau" that is my newest addition. This coupled with my adoption from a local animal shelter (RSPCA) of "Boe" seems to have made me quite the animal re-homer.

Each bird has had different circumstances that has they have come to me with

"Turk" was found by the previous owner in poor condition and although improved by the previous owner, he now looks a much more healthy well adapted aviary breed bird.

"Boe" is hand raised bird; he feeds from my hand but has yet to stand on my hand. He can't fly very well (has hand his wing clipped) and prefers the front corner of his aviary section standing on one leg more often than not. I would like to see his overall condition improve but I have not had him long. 

"Beau Beau" well looked after, raised from young age and handled but behaves more like a aviary breed bird. Presumed to be a male but is still under two years of age and has not produced a ring around the neck so I'm not sure. Quite bird and one of the more easier to handle when caught.

Suspicions Confirmed

My suspicions have been confirmed discovering the cat from previous occasions on my side fence. I quickly chased it from my yard; so hopefully the scare is enough to keep it away.

If it is not responsible I still do not like it lurking so close to my birds of a night time, why can't people with cats be responsible and lock their cat's up of a night I do not know.

Galah (Cacatua roseicapilla)

Galah

Cacatua roseicapilla

Sexing -

The female had red eyes while the male has black.

Noise -

Moderate to High, they can produce a very loud squawk when alarmed. They are
generally quite unless that squawk is produced.

General care -

I will be keeping my Galah's in my larger group aviary with Princess Parrots,
Bourke Parrots, Red Rumped Parrots and a Gouldian Finch. They appear to have a good temperament but they are larger than the other species and have no reason to be threatened.
I have been providing my usually mixed seed with daily vegetable, fruit and greens (just in greater levels)

Breeding -

They are a proven breeding pair, so I'll be looking at options for nesting boxes shortly. I do have one I converted out of a hollow log which will be one of my options for these birds.