Leg Bands / Leg Rings

I have decided to leg band my birds. It is getting to the stage were I need to easily determine parents from young birds and in the case of my Green Cheeked Conures be able determine the sex of the birds which I will be able to do after they sit again.

Two of my birds already have rings, my female Indian Ringneck has a numbered metal ring and my newest male Scarlet Chested Parrot has a blue plastic band. I have not been able to locate a supplier of metal rings that doesn't require a minimum order of a size and I need three different sizes. I would probably spend $100 on rings and have a lot of left overs. So plastic bands it is for now.

I will probably do all my birds in stages to avoid upsetting them two much.

I have managed to band all my birds, however three of the bird were able to remove the bands soon after I put them on. The Green Cheeked Conure's being the worst as they both removed there bands quickly and they were one of the main species that I wanted to band to allow me to easily determine parent from offspring.

Most of the birds chewed at the bands until they got used to them.

Nesting Box - Scarlet Chested Parrot

Based on some advice from a breeder that I purchased my last Scarlet Chested Parrot from I'm going to make some changes to breeding or nesting box.

1. Size - I'm going to use a larger box. I have noticed that both the Scarlet Chested and Bourke parrots prefer the larger parrot box that I have been putting in with the smaller budgie sized boxes, often getting two females nesting in the same box. I have purchased two boxes between the budgie and the bigger sized box.

I have been advised that the male and female Scarlet Chested Parrot can quarrel inside the box causing concussion of the female if the box if it is two small. I have witnessed spots of blood on the inside of boxes in the past and could also explain the poor feather condition of male females during breeding season.

2. Material - To date I have been using non toxic saw dust. I have decided on advice to go for parrot nesting material that is a blackish colour and largely made of peat, I believe.

I this case I have been advised that saw dust can cause a lung condition in smaller parrots and finches. I have yet to find any contributing evidence though.

The range of materials able to be used can vary greatly from saw dust, straw, wood chips, twigs, dried grass, shredded new paper to hessian.

New Scarlet Chested Parrot

I picked up my new male Scarlet Chested Parrot on Sunday. He is young a yet to get his full adult plumage.

Most of my knowledge on birds either comes from reading (books, magazines, web) or from other breeders (when buying or selling birds usually). Generally I find there are two types of people here - ones you have to probe for information by asking questions or those who openly share as much as they can. However I discovered a third type on Sunday one who really challenged my methods in keeping and breeding birds. He questioned a lot of things such as breeding box size and nesting material type for Scarlet Chested parrots, supplementing of diet with soaked seed and egg shell and even such things as transporting boxes and cages to disease. Anything I can learn in this area is welcomed, to learn from someone experiences is the the main reason I have written this blog.   

New Ringneck

I have found myself in possession of a new Indian Ringneck Parrot. My wife's cousin found him and had been caring for some time but found him a little too much to look after. He turquoise blue with almost elements of clear tail in his tail.

I have named him Turk and I have introduced him to my other Ringnecks but Nippet and Nelly are yet to warm to him and I have witnessed him fighting a little with Nelly.   

We have had consistent and heavy rain and it is making the aviary somewhat of a bog, particularly the non concreted area. I considering taking some of the birds out to give them a break from the rain and house them inside for a couple of days if this weather continues.

I'm eagerly awaiting picking up my new Scarlet Chested male on Saturday. Can't wait! I have been looking for one for some time now.

Aviary Update

I have now sold all my Green cheeked Conure babies but I'm still trying to sell my young male Princess Parrot and finding someone to swap my young Scarlet breasted Parrots (hopefully for a new male).

One of my young Scarlet Breasted Parrots seems to be a male it is starting to develop scarlet spots on its chest but it is related to the other birds in the cage unfortunately.

I have had another death in the grass parrot bird cage. One of my female Bourke Parrots I found dead in a feed dish on the floor of the aviary. I'm hoping this is unrelated to my two Scarlet's that I lost recently and I'm putting this one down to old age. I did purchase her as a pair and her then owner did not know how old they were but had purchased them from a local pet shop, I'm assuming she went through a few pairs of hands and was probably 10 years plus. She has never been a successful breeder for me (not for her lack of trying) but this would cause breeders to get rid of them.

Aviary Update

I'm currently looking after a bantam Rhode Island Red chicken her two chicks and her foster chick (a full sized Rhode Island Red) for my father while they move and settle into there new home. I have housed them in the Green Cheeked Conure section of the aviary at the moment because it is the largest area. The hen is sitting on the fostered chick of a night but is a bit aggressive during the day towards it and I have gone to the steps of separating it during the day and putting it underneath during the night. They are benefiting from the large amount of seed dropped by the conures at this stage.

Selling my young Conures has been somewhat of a trail but I enjoy the chance to meet like minded people as with purchasing birds and selling my young Indian Ringnecked Parrots. I have sold two out of the four young and in one case swapped one for a male Princess Parrot. I have been using two free online methods to sell my parrots (Gumtree and petlink) with most response coming from Gumtree thus far but not a great deal of follow through with the sale. I have inquired about selling them to a pet shop but the amount that I can give me is far less than what I can get online and still give the buyer a great price compared to buying them in a pet shop.

Symbio Wildlife Park

I took the family to Symbio Wildlife Park on the weekend and I was fairly impressed by the whole place but unlike most I was most interested in the birds as opposed to the bigger attractions such as the tigers.

The place has several aviaries from finches such as Gouldian and Parrot finch to Australian Parrots and Cockatoos right up to large birds of pray such as eagles (most impressive) and even flightless birds such as Cassowary and Emu.

The large walk in Australian aviary way perhaps my favourite it had several species of parrot including-
             Cockatiel
             Regent Parrot
             Eastern Rosella
             Crimson Rosella
             Musk Lorikeet
             King Parrot
             Eclectus Parrot

It included smaller cages inside with some cockatoo's such as Red tailed Cockatoo, Yellow tailed Cockatoo, Gang Gang Cockatoo's and Sulphur Crested Cockatoo's and there were a few non Australian species doted around like Sun Conures and Alexandrine Parrots.

I inspire to have such an aviary one day or at least to visit more places like it.

King Quail (Coturnix chinensis)

King Quail
Coturnix chinensis


I purchased this quail as a "silver quail" but I believe it is a silver mutation of a King Quail and is often referred to as a Button Quail also.


Sexing -


The male has a white and black "bib" under its
beak (female pictured)


Noise -


Low. I have yet to hear any noise from my king quail.


General care -


Quail are generally low maintenance and help keep the aviary floor cleaner. They can startle easily at night causing them to fly upwards and startle the other birds in the aviary. I have chosen to clip one wing of this female.


Breeding -


As I have only one female I wont be breeding this quail at this time. However they generally lay there eggs scattered on the ground then gather them up in a nest made of dried grass and sit on them for approximately 20 days. 

Gouldian Finch (Erythrura gouldiae)

Gouldian Finch
Erythrura gouldiae


Sexing - 


The female has a lighter purple breast (black headed female pictured).


Noise -


Medium to low. There pleasant chirps are still noticeable.


General Care -


They have good temperament and are compatible with other non aggressive parrot and finches. They will rarely hybridize with other finches and should be monitored with parrots to avoid damage to feet. Care should be taken to insure no small gaps are available in the aviary for escape routes and when using doors care should be taken as they are very fast. Finch seed should be provided and supplemented by seeding grasses, greens, fruit and vegetables.


Breeding -


I will be providing a standard wooden finch nesting box. Can breed all year round.  

New birds

I have chosen to add a pair of Gouldian finches to grass parrots aviary. The pair came with a silver quail as part of the deal and they are all now in the Grass parrot aviary sharing with Scarlet Chested Parrots and Bourke Parrots. The parrots in the cage don't seem to even noticed the introduction of the finches, one of my female Bourkes followed the first finch around for a bit but that was it. I trimmed the female silver quails wing to avoid it jumping when it gets startled (they scare easy) and startling the other bird during the night.

I have red faced male Gouldian and a black faced female