Japanese Waxwings.

[PAUL HEARN]

Contact wanted with anyone who has either bred this species through parent rearing or by handrearing.

I have managed the latter,:D but I've yet to achieve the former.:???:

I would be grateful to hear from anyone else who has managed to breed these birds through either method.

Paul.:wink:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hello all,

Today is the day of the first hatched of the second round, but bad news is evident also of the five eggs laid, one of the chicks didn't get to the point of hatching.:(

I'm now relying on handrearing four (if I'm lucky) Japanese Waxwing chicks from day four of hatching.:?

Paul.

[kenny]

hi paul
i think you are going to have your work cut out mate,if you hand rear the lot but hope you are succesful.....just keep em away from the dog.....if you have got one!



ken8)

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Ken,

For future breeding from these birds then the more I hand rear the better to help toward avoiding imprinting, I hand reared two Waxwings two or three years ago and I still have the cock bird who is borderline between being a pet and a breeding bird.:roll:

Thankfully though I don't have a Dog, but I do have a Cat who knows that he will live far longer by eating what is put in his bowl rather than anything that is covered with feathers.:lol:

As the day of removing the chicks for hand rearing becomes nearer I'm feeling more and more uncomfortable, the previous birds I took on were way past the seven day stage and they were the most unpleasant birds I have ever hand reared (which even includes Herring Gull's :shock:), lets just say what comes out of the back of Waxwings is far from pleasant in consistency or odour.:-x

Paul.

[laurab]

For future breeding from these birds then the more I hand rear the better to help toward avoiding imprinting

Hi Paul, what do you mean by the above statement?

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Laura,

The problem with hand rearing birds can sometimes result with the youngsters becoming imprinted on Humans rather than their own particular species, unfortunately today was the day I have been forced to remove the chicks from the Waxwing nest to hand rear them.:?
The biggest problem is that one chick is very well developed and the other happens to be one of the last, if not the the last to hatch, the latter mentioned chick was impaired by having the membrane of the egg stuck to it's body.
This was rectified with the use of a fine paint brush soaked in water and slowly peeling the membrane and shell from the chick.

It seems that the recent high temperatures have taken their toll on the Japanese Waxwings second clutch, and I have failed to save more than two chicks yet again.:-|

Paul.

[chris]

Hi Paul,

this might sound completely daft, but what else do you expect from me:lol:

anyway, have you thought of wearing some sort of bird hand puppet while hand feeding the youngsters, screen yourself somehow so they can't see you so don't imprint on you. maybe a one way mirror infront of the brooder so you can see what your doing while feeding, but they just think they're being fed by some mad fluffy bird puppet:lol:

i'm sure someone has actually tried this method, more worrying i think it worked:shock:

good luck in what ever way you choose

Chris:wink:

[laurab]

Hi Paul

I am sorry Paul but I am still confused by your statement! How can you avoid imprinting :confused:

Both filial and sexual imprinting are essential to a birds survival, and I am now doubting any future intervention, on my part, in aiding a young chicks survival in order to hope for successful breeding results.

That is not to say I will not help a bird to survive, but I could not expect a successful breeding from the bird concerned......Although I played no part in Elvis's up-bringing(love him), more of the same could be expected with birds that have no filial/sexual imprinting.

:confused: :confused:

The Boss xxxx

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Laura,

What I meant was that when hand rearing certain birds the chances of them imprinting on their Human foster parent can sometimes be lessened by having a larger number of chicks, but obviously this isn't always the case:-(, of the two Waxwing chicks I hand reared previously the cock was far more imprinted than the hen and I wonder if more chicks had been available to rear at the time whether the imprinting on me would have been less?

Another method in decreasing the impriting of hand reared birds is to have birds of their own species available to house with them as soon as they are independant.

And as Chris mentioned hand puppets that resemble the parent birds are very useful when hand rearing certain birds, but I think creating a convincing Japanese Waxwing puppet would be far from easy.:lol: I needed both hands and all of my fingers to feed the two chicks to get any food into them.

I understand what you are saying regarding the future breeding potential of any hand reared bird, but I too agree that if a birds life depended on hand rearing then so be it, within reason of course, I wouldn't fancy taking on hand rearing any bird below the size of a House Sparrow.

Japanese Waxwings have proven to be extremely willing nesters for many breeders, but at the same time there is also a common factor for their chicks to die at around the five day stage, the two chicks I removed for hand rearing yesterday didn't make it through the night.:sad:

Despite how much I love this particular species and having kept them on and off for many years, I'm not willing to experience losing chicks from them again, for this reason my Dad and I have agreed to sell the breeding pair to someone who may have better success with them.:-(

Paul.

[laurab]

Hi Paul

I am really sorry to read you have lost the two chicks :-( but you gave it your best shot and that is all we can ever do.

I know how much the Waxwings mean to you and I am sure your decision was a hard one, but again you are thinking of the birds first and what is best for them.

I understand better what you were saying now, and I am sure you didn't mind me asking you to clarify the point for me :wink:

[Waxbillman]

what a shame Paul

thats the hobby sometime though, doesn't allus go to plan.

i bet it is wrenching for you to sell them, but i suppose you could allus look at it this way, you will have the room for something else now if you so wished

Matthew

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Laura and Matthew,

Laura,

Regarding my comments about imprinting of hand reared birds, it would have helped if I had explained myself properly in the first place.:roll:

I am absolutely gutted that I have finally made the decision to sell the Waxwings,:cry: the pair are spoken for and I'm undecided whether to sell the old single cock bird, but there is no way I could ever part with his son which is one of the two birds I hand reared three years ago.

Matthew,

I agree that this hobby is sometimes tough, but my experience with Waxwings has had far too many lows (literally dozens of losses) and far too few highs (only two youngsters being reared).
I never wanted to quit on the Waxwings, I always believed that one year I would finally get past the five day obstacle, but after so many losses it becomes too much.
I have failed with a species that is far from reluctant in attempting breeding, but successful breedings are few and far between, there is a reason for this but so far I am completely unaware of what it is.:-?

I know I will have extra space for breeding from another bird species, but to be honest mate I would rather it would be housing a breeding pair of Japanese Waxings who manage to rear their chicks to maturity.:sad:

Paul.

[Waxbillman]

hello Paul, is there not a foster species you could use?

Matthew

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Matthew,

I've given this one hell of a lot of thought mate,;) but unfortunately the Japanese didn't consider the advantages of breeding a broody Dunnock x Blackbird version of the Bengalese Finch.:roll:

Seriously though, I doubt the Japanese Waxwing will be a species known in UK or even Continental Aviculture in ten years time.:sad:

This is a huge shame because they are the Softbill version of the Java Sparrow, although not brightly coloured they have plumage that is so silky and fine, the young cock bird I hand reared is obviously tame, but then again although his Father is a long term captive wild caught bird he also takes Livefood from my fingers.

It would be hard to part with the older cock bird, but if there is a hen out there in need of a partner then I would have to part with him for the sake of UK Aviculture.

At the end of the day I will have to be happy in keeping the young cock I hand reared until he lives out his days.

Paul.