They took quite readily to one of the small wicker baskets placed in my aviary and had soon laid 2 eggs. Unfortunately, I am not very good at keeping records, but approx. 21 days later the young left their nest. A word of warning – the young are small enough to escape through aviary mesh that measures 1 x ½ inch!

After the Gold-breasts had reared their young, (unfortunately one of the youngster later died, I have no explanation for this) they soon returned to their original nest. It seemed that in no time at all I could hear the call of a young chick but something did not seem quite right.

I left it a few more days before I decided to have a look inside their nest. Upon close inspection my fears were confirmed – they had hatched out a Zebra Finch and were frantically trying to keep up with the demands of this big baby.

Eventually, the big baby left it’s tiny nest and the Waxbills continued to feed it. Unfortunately a couple of days later I found the youngster dead. It had not been attacked but I think the Waxbills struggled to keep it well fed.

I feed my Waxbills on a foreign finch mix, green foods such as broccoli florets and grated broccoli stems, dandelion leaves, cress etc. I also provide soaked seed, small mealworms and fruit flies.

Both hen and cock waxbills are similar in appearance but the most obvious difference is that the female lacks the red stripe that the male has above his eyes. At close inspection it is noted that the male is bright orange from the top of his breast to his underside.

During the winter months warm accommodation must be provided for these birds.

I now have 2 pairs of Gold-breasts and I am hoping for good results this coming season.