Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Bourke Parakeet Clutches of 2012



Last clutches of 2012.

Fuchsia with her last egg hatching, baby still inside.
Father is Flame, a really beautiful dark, dark pink guy.
 
Rosie and Pretty Boy's four, nearly ready to leave the nest.
 
 
Hand feeding two youngest birds from last clutches.
Rhett and Cherry's on left. The very light pink
with lots of white is from Fuchsia and Flame.
 

Same as above, but moved to opposite sides.
Dark pink Flame sometimes produces light pink birds like
one on the left. She's lovely with more white than is typical.
 
 
These two are from Rhett and Cherry's last clutch.
They are siblings of the darker pink bird above.
 
 
Waiting to be sold. Two from Rhett and Cherry,
one from Fuchsia and Flame's previous clutch.

As an aside, my two hand fed Lady Gouldian finches as
of today. I've been feeding them through the cage bars
to avoid having them fly everywhere, although they do
come back to me. I'm in a hurry sometimes. There is
food on the bars and on them. Smile. Little sweethearts.
 
 Peace and Blessings.
 
 

2 comments:

Matt said...

Hi

I have a pair of lutino bourkes, and since i'm new with bourkes i still can't understand some of their behaviour. My main concern is cause today i noticed one of the bourkes feeding the other but soon after i noticed the same thing but vice versa. Is it normal for the female to feed the male?

Thanks in advance
Matt

Gail A. Lewis said...

Hello Matt,

My Bourke hens will feed their mate if their eggs didn't hatch. They have a strong desire to feed their young and if they're disappointed, they will feed their mate instead. Sometimes refeeding him. I've seen Splendids hens do this too. It's actually sad to see. The mates cooperate and allow it.

It's possible, too, that you have two of the same sex and that they reverse roles to satisfy one another.

I'd check out their other behaviors. Males "strut" and throw their shoulders back. Hens don't. Unless one (or both) are doing this, you might have two hens. If you have two males, one may become less macho, so it could be less apparent than if you have two hens that never "strut".

Search "sexing" on this site for more info on this. You may need new partners for your pair.

Good luck.