Suggest species that need serious attemps at breeding to survive in aviculture?

[dave85]

hi all,

after much diliberation ive decided to sell some of my more domesticated species to attempt to try and help contribute to establishing other species less frequently seen in aviculture.

species so far ive decided on are -

- Red headed finches
- Chestnut breasted mannakins


So any suggestions on to others i should obtain would be helpful as i shall be going to stafford in 9 days time, so this will be my main oppurtunity to obtain a few new species if i find any?

Thanks
Dave

[Waxbillman]

hello Dave

a wise choice,

my suggestion is to buy as many pairs of the same species as you can afford or have the room for, then you will be self-sufficent, and be able to breed from your own stock, rather than having to search for spares.

also consider the time you have to give them and what diet you will be able to provide daily, and because of you going to uni will rule out certain species.

Matthew

[kenny]

hi dave
if you are going to uni as matt says are you sure you want to go in to rarer bred species as they are a bit time consuming mate when you are trying to breed to get a good stud going

ken

[chris]

Hi Dave,

if you haven't already it might be worth getting a few bengalse finches to foster with should the need ever arise. the way things are going now every egg counts with the rarer species, and if they make closed rings compulsory on all species it could well prove a life saver in many cases.

ofcourse for a species to have a serious breeding attempt at i would always suggest weavers. skepler on FF3 has or did have some bagalafect weavers for sale, true pairs. bear in mind they are quite large compared to the bishops and could prevent breeding of other species unless they have their own aviary.

to make some suggestions we'd have to know more about what kind of setup you have exactly, no. outdoor aviaries and sizes, no. indoor aviaries and sizes, and no.breeding cages and sizes also.

don't overlook what Matthew has said though as it is much wiser to concentrate on a handfull of species and have more of them than to try and save everything at once, as the latter will surely fail.

Chris;)

[kenny]

hi chris
i totally agree with all that you have just said there mate,these rarer birds need saving first as they may all soon be lost if all imports are banned it will be up to us ,if allowed to carry on breeding these rare birds to save them from extinction

ken

[Waxbillman]

unfortunity from my observations we will not only lose the rare species but many of the common too, the only reason that Pekin robkins are still occasionally available, and similiar softbills is the fact that they live fare longer. waxbills breeding life is far shorter and perhap less than 5 years, so you see the situation unless import ban is lifted soon we will see the more or less extinction of some species before this decade is out. the sad fact is there is not enough people about. not enough anyway that are prepared to work hard with them. there was more breeders about in the days aussi imports was banned so they made every effort to breed with them and get numbers up, this was done by many ways, including breeding inside and using allot of bengies.

we have been warned.
i would say weavers and whydahs are in a far worser situation than waxbills, far less are bred and cage breeding is not an option, bengalese rearing would be difficult but not impossible.

Matthew

[kenny]

hi matt
its a nice thought in a way that we could be the only saviours of these birds but its a great shame that it has to happen in the first place.

ken

[vixen]

hi mattew as i am new to bird keeping what are the rarer birds?:-|

[Waxbillman]

hello Vixen

where shall i start...................................

the list is getting longer these days, when i say rare i mean rare in British aviculture

any of the twinspots, avadavats, most of the pytillias, many of the manninkin and munia species, purple grenadiers, violet eared waxbills, swee, certain bleu waxbills, some of the firefinch family.

that sort of thing the expect that list to be far, far long in a couple of years time unless something is done

Matthew

[vixen]

hi matt i do like all of the manninkin and munia species.

[Waxbillman]

smae here, sadly almost all of the species from Asia are gone now, and the same will happen from the imports in Africa, so you you like african manninkins get them while you can

Matthew

[kenny]

hi matt
i remember just before they stopped the imports,going to a quarrantine place.seeing commbassous,whysahs pintail nonpariels ,indigoes,bluecaps and all the mannakins you could wish for and waxbills.now when you go to places its just canaries zebras bengalese and the odd java sparrow but you dont see any manakins

ken

[Waxbillman]

some of the bigger traders have them down south, but once there stock have gone thats it, apart from the very slow trickle that me be hanging about on the continent and the few breed that come from breeders

Matthew

[dave85]

hi all,

my setup is of fair size and i finish my course in may/june.

my setup consists of -

1 - 18ft long x 7ft wide flight with 5ft x 6ft inside flight (houses most of my finches currently and looks empty considering theres 70 birds in it).

1 - 18ft long x 6ft flight - that will be having a 3ft x 5ft flight being built inside (houses my cockatiels & java sparrows) looks about empty.

4 - 18 inch x 12 inch box cages

1 - 3ft x 1ft double breeder but i use it as single as present.

2 - 4ft x 2ft metal double breeding cages - so 4 x 2ft x 2ft cages.

2 - 40 inch x 12 inch treble cages but can be used as singles, doubles or trebles.

i also have bout half a dozen cages fronts to make more cages and plenty of wall space once i make alterations to positioning.

Ideally the flights are to be made into - the 18ft x 7ft - into - 1 x 5ft x 7ft flight and a 13ft x 7ft - the smaller 1 attaches to the inside flight of 5ft x 6ft.

then the other side - 1 x 5ft x 6ft attached to the inside of 3ft x 5ft and then a 13ft x 6ft.

So now you know my setup as it stands please suggest ideas for it

Thanks
Dave

p.s - i was thinking the larger 6ft x 13ft could house my cockatiels and the common finches e.g. zebs, bengies, javas can be hold in smaller flight nxt to them as they are only going to be held there inbetween breedings or after.

then i only have to house - 1pr greensingers, 1 pr stars, 5 diamond doves, 1pr gold breasted waxbills and 1 pr of ringneck doves(but these can go into cockatiel flight)

[Waxbillman]

hello Dave

well i suggest you house the rarer birds (what ever they may be) in the cages, and you would be rather limited to how many birds you can have as the size of the indoor is, as important as then outdoor aviary, because many of the species i would suggest, require extra heating and lighting and shelter for the cold and damp.
if you cannot extend the size of the indoor aviary then i suggest you would go for hardier species, such as the weaver and whydah species, there is some pretty good varieties that are still available and oce they are gone thats it.

in a aviairy of that size maybe you could try a colony of red ears and some pin-tailed whydahs,

breeding weaver and whydahs would be a massive achievement to British aviculture. they are not half as delicated as some of the waxbills and finches are and live longer so you have a few more years to try and breed them

theres my suggestions

though still no help on the species i know. hopefully though by this you can make your decision on watch species to breed then we can be more specific.

Matthew

[vixen]

Hi all,Can anyone give me some info on west nile bishops,black winged bishops.

[chris]

Hi Vixen,

what do you want to kow about them mate? the diet & care is pretty much the same as any other weaver. foreign finch mix, soaked seeds, eggfood, livefoods (waxworm, mealworm, fruit fly etc.) although i honestly haven't ever see my weavers eat greenfoods

Chris:wink:

[vixen]

hi chris Do they need heat,and does the cock need more than 1 hen also where would i find some photos and genral info on them.

[chris]

Hi Vixen,

they don't need heat and are hardy once acclimatised, generally speaking one cock to 2/3 hens is ideal, however there is no reason why you can't breed from pairs although it is wise to remove the cock once the hen is sitting if you do stick to pairs. multiple cocks can be housed together provided the aviary is large enough and there are 2/3 hens to each cock, but the more the better.

this link has a complete list of all weaver species:

http://www.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/familia.phtml?idFamilia=191

if you copy the latin names and paste into google it will show you any pictures there are on the net, and some sites will give information however there are very few breeding articles.

if you need any more help just ask

Chris:wink:

[dave85]

hi chris/vixen,

is it ok if this can removed and placed under its own topic please as maybe useful for others to find it but where it is may not be found

Thanks

Dave

[chris]

Hi Dave,

it's still relavent to the topic so i don't see a need to split this one into 2. the topic is what species need serious breeding attempts to survive in UK aviculture, weavers are one of the suggestions so what has been said is only of benifit to the topic

Chris:roll:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi everyone,

My suggestion for Bird Species that are in need of serious breeding programmes is all Asian Finches, Softbills and Parrotlike (except Ringnecks), all African, Finches, Softbills and Parrotlike (except the common Lovebird Species), all Central and South American Finches (except Cuban Finches), Softbills and Parrotlike (except some of the common Pyrrhura Conures such as Marron Bellied and Green Cheeked, Quaker, Lineolated, Parakeets and Celestial Parrotlets).

There are Birds native to European Countries that will be lost to UK Aviculture too if imports from the Continent come to an end, some breeders here occasionally rely on Continental bred British Finches and Softbills, British Bullfinches, Serins, Hawfinches, the various Crossbill Species, Citril Finches, Buntings other than Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings, Tree Sparrows etc, Softbills such as Wagtail, Pipit, Lark, Tit, Wheatear, Redstart, Warbler, Shrike, Nuthatch and Treecreeper Species, Whinchats, Stonechats, Bluethroats, Bearded Reedlings, Hoopoes etc.

Dave,

I'm sorry mate, but I don't understand why you feel the need to breed Chestnut Breasted Mannikins to ensure they aren't lost to UK Aviculture,:-? they are bred in huge numbers every year and have been ever since the ban on exporting Australian Flora and Fauna since the 1960's, to the point that there is even a Fawn Mutation of the Species.
The Sharpii Subspecies is quite rare in UK Aviculture and the Ramsayi Subspecies is non existent as far as I know, but if the Sharpii Subspecies is the one you had in mind, I can tell you of only a single Bird available that I know of, but if you were to put a wanted advert out you might find one or two more, last year these Birds were selling for £60+ a pair, so you may now be looking at paying £80-£100pr.

If you are hoping to establish any Australian Mannikin Species in the UK then try to find yourself some Pictorellas or some Yellow Rumps, but good luck to you mate and sell a few Cockatiels etc.;)

Paul.;)