Turquoisine Parakeets, A Question and Answer

QUESTION:

Hi Gail,

I know you don't breed turquoisines but I have a pair that I have had for three years but I have had no babies. Can you tell me how to get them to breed or let me know of someone that can help me. Thank you. -Marjorie

ANSWER:

Hello Marjorie, I did a quick search and you're right, there doesn't seem to be much out there about them. They sound as though they need more flight space than Bourkes, but otherwise are very similar. They use a parakeet-sized box with wood chips or moss in the bottom. I find buying pine shavings (for hamsters, etc.) works perfectly for the Bourkes and probably would for Turks too.

You don’t say what color your birds are. I’ve read the males have a red bar on the wing, but those that are all yellow may not. Is it possible you have two males? With Bourkes, when one male is dominant he sometimes intimidates the other male to behave as a female and allow himself to be fed, and that makes it difficult to sex them if they’re Rosies. By adding two hens, it allows both males to act as nature intended. Just a possibility for yours if they aren't the wild color.

Things to consider:

1. Are you sure you have one of both sexes?

2. Birds all need plenty of daylight to be inspired to breed. So, if they are in a dimly lit room some of the time, turn the lights on. Only 8 hours of darkness per 24-hour period.

3. Do they have the right kind of nest box and is it mounted high in your cage? Do not sit it on the floor.



Male Turquoisine. Most notable difference from a male
Splendid parakeet is the red bar on the shoulder.



4. Do they have enough flight space? I keep my nest boxes mounted outside the cage to allow as much flight space as possible. I’ve read that Turks require even more flight space than Bourkes do to exercise.



 



5. Are they getting healthy foods besides just seed? Plenty of calcium in the form of cuttlebone, mineral block, oyster shell? I read Turks like greens. Fresh chopped Kale is a Bourke favorite. They also get cooked sweet corn, peas and carrots. Although fresh shredded carrots are good too. Egg food is a favorite when getting ready to breed or while raising babies. We take hard boiled eggs and put them in a blender with plenty of dry bread crumbs and finely mix everything together, including the egg shells. We grind the egg shell fine first and then blend it back in. Refrigerate the mix and give a little fresh each day, removing the old (don't leave it in the cage for more than a few hours) I add it in the morning and take it out at dinner time. It's in there 6 to 9 hours, but our house is cool. On a warm day it will go bad sooner and should be removed in less time.

6.  Sometimes adding another pair of birds in their area encourages breeding. Or, perhaps the next pair will do better. Sometimes competition encourages them, or maybe they will learn from others.

7. Occasionally a pair simply don't like each other. Switching to new partners usually works. I've done that several times with pairs that bickered. It stopped when they got new mates and we had successful clutches thereafter. All birds have their own individual personalities and sometimes certain birds don't get along with a particular hen or cock, but will be happy with a different one.

 

Good Luck. If you don't have the nest box set-up recommended above, give that a try.

Photo from Pandemonium Aviaries

Below is a little more information I learned doing research for this article:

The courtship display of all male Turquoisine parakeets involves a soft whistling. The hen lays four to five eggs and she incubates them alone (just like a Bourke or Splendid). The incubation period is 17 to 19 days (with Bourkes it is 18 to 21 days). The cock bird feeds her while she is sitting and for a further few days after the chicks have hatched (same as with Bourkes). Both parents then feed the young. When raising young you can include soaked and sprouted seeds, soaked bread, green food and spray millet.

Male Turquoisines can be aggressive toward other males of this species. It's best to provide each pair with its own cage or flight. This is important during the breeding season, as you can expect a lot of bickering and even fighting among males. It is less likely to be a problem when housed with canaries or finches, or even other species of parakeet.

Still, be sure there is enough flight room for any and all the birds you put together.

 

A Link to More About Turquoisines 

from Pandemonium Aviaries

Peace and Blessings.

 

Finch and Parakeet Differences

This is a rather vast title for such a short post, but I've made several recent observations that are interesting to me.

Four of our five new baby Lady Gouldian finches

Our first ever clutch of Lady Gouldian finches seem to go back and forth into and out of their nest box. Last night all five were snuggled back in the box and this morning all five were back outside again. During the day some venture "home" again. They put their heads outside the nest box entrance and beg to be fed. Mom will fly over, but not feed them. She hops back and entices them to come back outside to be fed. "Grow up," she seems to be saying.

Young Rosy Bourkes who were hand fed.

I've yet to see a Bourke, Splendid or Budgerigar parakeet ever return to their nest box once they've left it. Occasionally, I've returned a baby Bourke to their box overnight if I thought it was still pretty young and might get cold outside the nest box. They always came out the next morning and never went back on their own.

Young Rosies taken out for a hand feeding. Adult is
checking them out. Actually an older sibling of those in
the cup. They don't stay there, it's just for transport.

I'm surprised by all the differences I see between these two species. Bourke fathers take over the lion's share of feeding babies once they leave their nest. I notice the my Gouldian hen is doing all of the feeding of her five offspring while dad just sits and watches. I don't know if this is typical of Gouldians or not. I've raised Bourke parakeets for many years, but this is my first and only pair of Lady Gouldians. Is he just a lazy guy? Or, is this the usual response for male Lady Gouldian finches?

The whole family. The babies love the swing and play on it
even though their parents have always ignored it.

I also wonder if this "young" pair of Gouldians I recently obtained, and who insisted on breeding and raising a family before expected, will ever fully color up. Notice the hen at far left in the photo and her mate in front do not have full black cheek patches, and his purple doesn't extend fully across his chest. They look young, and maybe their molt was arrested so it will happen later...?

It will be interesting to wait and see. Meanwhile, my husband and I both think the babies' soft colors are lovely. He likes them better than the adults' bright plumage.

Your comments are welcomed.

Peace and Blessings.

BIRD BRAINS? No, COMPACT INTELLIGENCE.

Rosie, my favorite Rosy Bourke Parakeet.

Did you ever stop to think about the amount of information wired into the brain of a tiny bird or any other living thing, for that matter? Our brains and spinal columns are so intricate that there isn’t a computer chip made that can begin to hold all the information required to keep a living creature fully functioning. Life really is miraculous.

So, when did the term “bird brain” take on such a negative meaning? An incident today with one of my tame birds, Rosie, made me acutely aware of how very intelligent she is.

I thoroughly cleaned four Bourke cages today, and one was hers. The cages were moved so that the area under and behind them could be thoroughly cleaned. The windows around those cages now sparkle, and the window blind is clean and shiny too.

Rosie’s cage is the only one that still has a nest box on it. It’s one that was never used, so I didn’t bother to remove and clean it. I simply found a plastic medicine bottle the same size as the hole and stuck it in so the lid closed off the opening. Rosie’s a year old now and has never reproduced. But she wants to…Oh does she want to.

Normally, I can’t see the lid that covers the round opening into the box. Today, while the cage sat on the table, I could look down at it. Rosie noticed and flew to the perch outside the box. Then she looked up at me and started pecking at the lid of the medicine bottle that prevented her from going in. She cheeped until I looked at her, then gave the lid a peck or two, and looked up at me again to see if I got the message.

Bars removed to allow entrance to nest
box on outside of cage. Short dowel perch
below also goes inside for hen to stand on
as her mate feeds her from outside.



It was obvious she was trying to tell me to uncover the opening, even though she’d never seen it uncovered before. Somehow, she knows that’s a box for laying eggs. She’s recognized where the opening is and that it’s covered up. She clearly communicated to me what she wants and obviously expected me to understand her.

Is she a “bird brain?” Well, she has a very small, compact brain, and she’s a bird, but it’s amazing what that little brain of hers knows and can do.

Later, when I reached through the small opening designed for a water cup, Rosie hopped on my arm. I looked in at her and said, “Rosie, I can’t take my arm out while you’re on it and I don’t want to hurt you.” She immediately jumped off. Does she speak English? Perhaps, or maybe she intuitively understood what I was trying to communicate to her without having to understand the words.

Are birds smart or stupid? I vote for very, very smart.

Splendid Bourke Parakeets, or those Moody Bourkes & Splendids

Hello All,

Why are you so cranky today?

Seems like I've been posting a lot about wild birds lately. I could go on some more about the rowdy Steller's Jays outside ... those pretty dark blue birds, but it's about time I returned to the designated topic!

Splendid male keeping company with a Rosy Bourke hen.

This is about moody, or occasionally temperamental parakeets. I admit to naming one of my tame Bourke hens "Trouble." Probably haven't told you that before since it's not a positive name. Smile.

Trouble is a hand fed hen hatched early last year. Her brother is "Pastel" because in addition to pink, he has light yellow on his wings and blue on his rump ... three pastel shades. Trouble received her name after frequently refusing to go back into her cage. Of all my tame birds, she's always the last to go home. Catching her can be a lot of trouble.

Yet, she loves to fly onto me, take baths and eat from my hands. She's very tame. The trouble with Trouble is that she's probably TOO smart. They're all smart, but she's too smart for her own good. I had decided to sell my little trouble maker, but now changed my mind ... again. Very unusual for me...yea, right.

Most Bourke faces are darker than these two who have pink eyes.

This morning Trouble decided to stay with me almost the entire time she was out of her cage with the other tame birds ... six all together. She nibbled my hair and talked to me, being very loving. How can you sell one that does that? Silly, huh? Then when I decided they'd all been out long enough, I walked to Trouble's cage with her, Pastel and Flame on my shoulders. When I opened the door and leaned toward it ... all three went in! That was a first for Trouble. She was very mellow and sweet today.

Hand feeding makes any bird very tame. One baby being fed.
The others are older and occasionally like a taste of baby food.

Sometimes before I open the door and let everyone fly out, I will put my hand into the cage and invite them to ride out on my hand. Yesterday, for some reason Pastel refused to get on my hand. Now, this is unlike him. He's usually the first to jump aboard, but not yesterday. In fact, after everyone else was out, he still wouldn't get on my hand. After chasing him around the cage a couple of times, I told him he was welcome to stay home, that I wasn't going to open the door and let him fly out. He had to do it my way or stay put. So, he didn't get out yesterday. Today, however, he was very friendly and first to jump on my hand ... go figure.

What I'm leading up to with these stories is that birds have mood swings too ... just like we do.

Pink-eyed Rosy Bourke couple.
Some refer to the lighter shades as Pink Bourkes.

Snowbird, an albino budgie we had for 12 years was quite a character. She was very tame when out of her cage, but if you put your hand in her cage, watch out! She would attack the intruding hand and actually bite it, sometimes hard enough to break the skin. But, open the door and invite her out and she was gentle as could be. Pick her up and she wouldn't bite. There was something about her cage being her castle and she didn't want intruders. Cleaning her cage took place when she was out of it! Snowbird was purchased as a companion to Skybird, a tame, blue five-year-old budgie. A year after we bought Snowbird, our much sweeter Skybird, was dead on the floor at age six. He loved her too much, perhaps?

Splendid or Scarlet-chested Parakeet Pair. Hen is below.

As for Splendids ... well, every one of them is different too. Aging Rainbow isn't as tame as he was as a youngster. He doesn't bite, but he also prefers not to come out of his cage. His companions are my tame Bourkes and he gets along fine with them, but since his mate passed away over a year ago, he's lost his vim and vigor. Wish I could find him another mate.

Friendly Pair of Splendid or Scarlet-chested Parakeets.

His mother, Millet, was the sweetest Splendid I've ever owned ... well, maybe her daughter, Jewel, was just as sweet. I made no effort to tame Millet as she was purchased as a breeder. Yet, I could put my hand in her cage and she'd nibble my fingers or take treats from them. She was a wonderful little bird married to a terror ... her mate, Merlin, pulled her feathers and was abusive. Yet, he fathered and cared for his young. Fortunately, his sons and daughters all seemed to have their mother's personality.



Pair of Normal Bourkes in their wild color. Hen in front, male in back.

They say that Bourkes will never mate with any other species of parakeet. Yet, when Millet died and Merlin was alone, I put this male Splendid in a cage of single female Bourkes. One Normal hen (native color) decided she wanted to mate with him and gave him her "come-hither" behavior. Eventually, he paid attention.

Splendids have interbred with Turquisines and other small parakeet varieties, but never Bourkes. He decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, his normal behavior was to pull out a feather from his mate's back before lifting his second leg up. The first time he did it to Willow, the normal Bourke hen, she looked startled and moved away. The second time he pulled out one of her feathers during an attempted coitus, she attacked him! From then on he was terrified of her and kept his distance. That was fine with her! There's a lesson in that. Ladies don't accept abuse, or you may die young like poor, sweet Millet. Be a Willow! Willow eventually got a mate, younger than she, and they raised many, many baby Bourkes, both Normals and Rosies. She's now retired and he's still her loving companion.

Willow!

Bjarne's Birds: Photos of Bourkes, Splendids & Turquoisines in Color Morph's

I had six tame Rosy Bourkes and one male Splendid out for free flying today. About an hour later, all the Bourkes went back to their cages on my finger without any problem. Got no arguement from them.

The handfed Splendid, however, refused to go home. Eventually, I got out a net and caught him with it. He didn't seem to mind... He knew he was supposed to go home, and must have figured he deserved to be caught in a net. I rarely use a net, but he just would not go back in his cage.

Found this site full of fascinating color changes in both Bourkes and Splendids.

I don't think you can breed a prettier bird than a male Splendid parakeet in his natural state. However, Bjarne's photos of birds he's bred for different colors are all very interesting.  I once thought I might like to try and breed a solid black budgerigar, however, if it takes 22 aviaries like Bjarne has for his parakeets, I'm not up to it. Smile.

Hope you enjoy his photos. 

Bjarne's Birds ... Interesting Bourke & Splendid color changes

Splendid Parakeet Portraits, Scarlet-chested Neophema's

Rainbow, son of Merlin & Millet. Now our old Patriarch.

The flash reflects off their faces making them look turquoise
like their shoulders, however, their faces are actually a dark cobalt blue.

I love my birds and tend to cover much more about Bourkes than my Splendids. That’s probably because I have 22 Bourkes right now, 19 Rosies and 3 normal’s. No doubt that’s why I successfully raise more Rosies than Splendids, hmmm?

Yet, my clownish, very fun Splendids deserve attention too! I only have two hens, but have four male Splendids, all in their normal wild color.

Rainbow is the father of two of our other males, Flip and Rainbow Junior. Handsome Rudy came to us in a trade for one of Rainbow’s other sons in order to introduce genetic diversity.

Although Splendids don’t sing as lyrically as a Bourke parakeet, they do call back and forth to each other, especially the two bachelors who want mates of their own. Not an easy feat to find them though.

If you keep birds, you’ll find the colorful Splendids lots of fun. They love to tear up paper, play with toys and are crazy about swings! They like taking baths, and water cups are just another plaything for them.

 

  

You can see some of the shiny, dark cobalt blue of his
face under his beak. The wing color is correct, but their
faces are actually very dark blue, almost black.

Photos at right and below are of Rudy. Hole in nest box doesn't have to be so big. They adapt to various sizes.

They do like to put things in their water! Change their water dish at least once a day or more, and provide them with another source too. A tube of water on the side of a cage works well. It isn’t as likely to be splashed out. Keep an eye on it too, however, because it is likely they’ll make soup in the basin of it as well.

Here is a better depiction of a Splendid's true face color.

As an afterthought, here are other relevant photos, even though they've been posted in earlier articles.

These are young Splendids. Hen is below.
Males above do not have all their scarlet color yet.

Young Male Splendid with a young male Normal Bourke (in wild color).

Very young Splendids. Actually there are four males and
one hen in this cage, but their color hasn't come in yet.
At the time the photo was taken, I didn't know their sexes.
As they matured, the hen had to be removed as she was so outnumbered.



Young Splendid hen with her first egg.



May your Birds Bring You

Peace & Blessings

and Keep You Smiling!

Personality Differences in Bourkes, Splendids and Budgies

As I played with my tame young Bourkes this morning, it struck me how different they are from other varieties of parakeet. I held a baby Bourke out for my husband to see and he instinctively reached over to pet it on the head.

“They don’t like that,” I said.

“Yes, I’ve noticed. They’re very different from the budgies, aren’t they?” he replied.

It’s true, Bourkes and Splendids are approximately the size of the common Budgerigar parakeet, but their personalities differ widely. Budgies and cockatiels like to have their heads scratched. Bourkes do not.

BOURKES: Although they sing, Bourkes are typically quieter than a budgie and less active during the day. They are happiest, most active and sing more often at dawn and dusk, napping a lot throughout the day, especially in the afternoon.

As pets, some Bourkes will nibble at you, offering kisses. They like to ride around on an owner and can be trained to prefer a shoulder to the top of your head. Some will even come to you when called, and bathe in a stream of water running into your hand. But, they are less likely to do either than a budgie. As a rule, they are more reserved and careful. A positive in their favor is that they don’t chew on everything in sight like a budgie will. If you line their cages with paper, some will chew on it and others won’t. However, those who chew it do so a lot less enthusiastically than other varieties of parakeet (so they’re less messy). I’ve read, but can’t confirm, that in a planted aviary, Bourkes leave the plants alone. Mine love greens such as lettuce and kale, so I keep house plants away from their cages to be safe.

SPLENDIDS: I’ve called these little birds clowns in the past and I still think of them that way. Not only are they brightly colored like clowns, they act the part. Splendids love toys and bright objects, especially mirrors. In the wild they feed on the ground and will spend a lot of time on the bottom of a cage or aviary floor. As for lining their cages with paper … expect it to be shredded regularly. They like to chew. And bathing is a must for them. They like taking baths and, unlike Bourkes, tame birds will easily bathe in your hand if you encourage it. Water is their element and water cups will quickly be filled with anything they can find to put in it. Hence, their water needs to be changed more often than any other bird species I’ve ever owned. They make soup of their water, placing veggies, paper, seed shells, whatever they can into it.

Splendids are more active than other parakeets. They do a lot of pacing when in their cage and probably are happiest in an aviary or, when tame, being allowed to fly about the room. Individual birds can be very interactive with their owners. However, if not tame, they tend toward being easily frightened. I keep a night light on in the room with Splendids after dark to protect them from crashing into the sides of their cages if something suddenly scares them.

BUDGERIGARS: Active and intelligent, the only drawback to a tame budgie is that they chew and can be noisy. Otherwise, they’re confident little guys who make great pets and are very interactive. They learn to repeat human words that owners can understand when no one else does. Clearly, they do not repeat as well as a parrot, but they try. They come in almost every color of the rainbow, except red or pink. Those colors are reserved for Splendids and Bourkes. Another plus in their favor is that their droppings are typically drier and more concise than other birds’. That might offset their tendency to shred paper and anything else within their grasp.

NEOPHEMA’S: There are many varieties of Neophema Parakeets and I’ve not experienced others, although I’d like to get to know Turquoisines better. Their colors are gorgeous and I hear they are a fun bird to keep. Perhaps someday I’ll find a breeder willing to accept a pair of Bourkes in trade for a pair of “Turqs.” Other Neophema varieties include: Neophema chrysogater, chrysostoma, elegans, elegans carteri, elegans petrophila and pulchella.

Parrakeets of the World  - The photo above was taken from this book. Here is a link for it at Amazon.com

Trouble with Blog Layouts

After wasting time fussing with broken links in this blog, it turns out that our broken links were caused by the previous layout. Switching layouts to the tan shade with the birds in the upper right corner that I liked was not a good idea. All links to other sites didn't work in Explorer. Oddly, they worked through the Firefox browser, so I blamed the Explorer browser, but when I changed to another layout, they work in both.

This is the third layout (I wasn't able to retrieve the very first one), the links work again! Ta dah! Hope you like this choice. It's still bird-ish ... Smile.

Now that the links are working again, I hope you'll take a look at my husband's novels through Cape Arago Press, or visit his blog: "Sowing the Seeds of Christianity" about its historical past. The books are fascinating, historically accurate novels about First Century Judea. The blog has amazing information. Check them out! Their links are in the left column.

Meanwhile ...

We have four birds on eggs, two Splendid hens and two Bourkes! Here are photos of each of the four. Other Bourke hens are poking around in their nestboxes, so hopefully we'll have more babies before the summer is over. So far, no Splendid eggs have been fertile ... maybe the third time will be the charm for these two. Smile.

God bless you and your love for birds!

Bird Shows – Also Buying Birds

In my previous Blog I promised Noah to talk a bit about my experience at bird shows. They are exciting and lots of fun. However, it’s a good idea to know how to reach the breeders/sellers after the show. Most have business cards, pamphlets, or something. If not, ask for a contact number and hope it’s real. You should recognize healthy birds and avoid those that seem lethargic. Expect healthy birds to be active, or at least responsive to you when you approach or talk to them, they should have dry vents and clear, alert eyes ...

The best price I’ve ever found on cages was at a bird show. I’ve since ordered more online, but shipping costs made them more expensive than from the bird show, and they were exactly the same. Boxes of California millet at the show were also more reasonable than from our local Grange. And, the quality was better.

When I decided to raise birds again, I investigated varieties that I’d not previously owned. Bourkes were said to be quiet, peaceful parakeets in addition to being beautiful. That won me over. I started looking for breeders, but none were close. However, there was an annual bird show in Hillsboro, Oregon and they listed Bourkes as a variety being offered. It was a 4-hour drive for us, but it turned out to be well worth the trip.

Our first bird show wasn’t as huge as others I saw in Ohio, but there were a lot of bird dealers present with all kinds of birds. The number of finches was particularly impressive. There were also lots of parakeets, and at least three people had Bourkes for sale. The one thing I never saw at any of the Hillsboro shows was a Scarlet-chested, or Splendid, parakeet.

The best-priced Bourkes were offered by an elderly woman from northern Washington near the Canadian border. A friendly male Bourke came right up to the side of the cage when I talked to him, so he was my first pick.

The friendly hen I selected at the show apparently had the same color band as the male indicating she was a close relative. So, she stayed and the woman pointed out another hen she was certain was unrelated. I took her and named the pair Rhett & Scarlett.

Scarlett turned out to be a wonderfully sweet bird, but not very robust. In her too short lifetime, she produced only one baby, Bonnie. However, she fostered another bird’s egg and when a hen rejected a newly hatched chick, I gave it to Scarlett whose infertile eggs were close to a hatch date. She fostered the baby … something that’s not supposed to happen. As I said, she was a very sweet bird. Yet, fostering that baby wore her down and she died before the baby was fully weaned. Rhett finished feeding it. Although elderly, Rhett is still with us and still producing!

A year after buying Rhett & Scarlett, I chanced to see an ad in our local shopper for Exotic birds and called to see if they might have Bourkes. Turned out that she had individual pairs of many kinds of birds, and Bourkes were one of them. I bought the Rosy pair and her only pair of Splendids. Later, I had an opportunity to buy two Normal hens from a bird store that was going out of business.

The Rosy male was quite a singer, so I called him Bing (as in Crosby). His mate became Cherry. They did not reproduce, so he acquired a Normal hen, dubbed Stella (a variety of cherry tree). Bing and Stella became champion producers and very tame, wonderful birds! As we’ve discussed before, all their Normal offspring were males and all their Rosies were hens. The males were the brown wild shade like their mother and the Rosy hens were dark pink like their father.

After Scarlett died, Rhett acquired Willow, the other Normal hen. He fed her and wooed her, but they never reproduced. Eventually, Willow found a mate with Bing, Jr. and they’ve done remarkably well at producing beautiful babies. Although Bing, Jr. is a Normal Bourke, as is Willow, their daughters have all been Rosies, and all the Normals have been males. He has to be heterozygous.

As Willow transitioned to Bing Jr., lonely Cherry went into Rhett’s cage. It was love at first sight, even if Cherry is a bit bossy. They have produced quite a few beautiful Rosies and Rhett’s sweet nature over-shadows Cherry’s pushy personality.

Wanting to add new blood to my lines, a few years later I made another trip to Hillsboro for the annual bird show there. I bought a beautiful Rosy Bourke male to put with Bonnie (actually not the first Bonnie who died young like her mother. This one is out of Rhett & Cherry). He became Clyde, and they’ve done well together.

That same trip, I also bought a white faced pair with pink eyes. They were a mistake. I bought them from the same woman I bought my first young pair from. She said she simply wanted to downsize her flock, but I suspect these were not two-year-old birds like she said. They had not interest in breeding and within the first year, the hen was dead on the floor. The male moved to an aviary elsewhere in trade for a Splendid hen. He did reproduce for that person, however, and I actually have a male Bourke out of that union … another trade.

So, maybe the buy wasn’t too terrible, as I ultimately got a Splendid hen from it. She mated with a son of Merlin & Millet, my first Splendids. That union produced three more sons, however, the hen died of egg binding with her second clutch. So sad. Merlin & Millet’s son, Rainbow, has had two other hens since then, but all eggs have been infertile.

In the past two years, poor economy has caused the Hillsboro bird show to be cancelled. With the price of gasoline so high, fewer people attended and many out-of-area sellers weren’t willing to make the trip to Portland, Oregon any longer.

***

The single baby photos are of our most recent addition, Band #25 for 2010, out of Chitter and Bella. As an aside, Chitter is the father of three clutches (8 babies) with Brandy, and an earlier clutch of three with Candy. All of Brandy’s babies had to be removed and handfed because of one death and injuries to other babies. He was my first suspect. However, no harm has come to this little one. Is Bella more protective? Or, was it Brandy who was guilty all along? If she has a clutch with her new mate, Rory, we shall see. I’m monitoring Chitter’s offspring, and later will monitor Brandy’s offspring very closely. Don't want to lose any.

Shared the photo of Australian parrots just because they're pretty and added a lot of color. Smile.

Peace & Blessings!

Bourke Pairing & Nest Boxes ... Question from Noah

Noah asks: "I had a question about a pair of my bourkes and was hoping you'd be able to help.

Around 5 months ago my wife and I bought a pair of bourkes from a bird fair. We were told they were a proven pair and had just recently come off eggs (chicks taken for hand-feeding). Their age is said to be 2 years. Well, in the 5 months we've had them, we have not even seen any mating tendencies between them. They have a nest box and a constant stream of fresh foods we give them daily but they don’t touch ANY of the fresh foods.

Long story short, I'm confused. Cant quite figure out how or what I need to do to get them 'going' if they were said to be a proven pair. That, or we got lied to. If needed, I'll snap some pictures. Both are rosies.

Thank you! And my wife and I love your blog."

Noah, Thank you for the compliment. You made my day! My first pair came from a bird show too, but that’s another story.

If your pair is truly only two years old, that’s a perfect age for reproducing. However, there is the potential that the breeder wanted to rid him or herself of an older pair who were no longer productive. Sad, but possible.

If they aren’t eating fresh foods, it might be they never had them before. My Bourkes don’t like fruit and I don’t know why. But, they love vegetables. Their favorite is fresh Kale sliced into small pieces. They also like fresh spinach, lettuce, corn, carrots, peas, and broccoli. Be sure seed is always present.

About Breeding: If they’ve been with you five months that should be more than enough time to get used to their surroundings and feel secure. Could they have been in an aviary before and moving to a cage bothers them? That seems unlikely, however.

My guess would be that it is something about the nest box that puts them off. Is the opening big enough? My swallow boxes outside have an opening big enough for swallows, but too small to allow a sparrow to enter. A Bourke wouldn’t be able to get into them either. Our parakeet boxes have round openings two inches across. Some of my Bourkes are even using cockatiel boxes because I had some available. Too big is better than too small.

Although I’ve known people who had a pair nest in a Quaker Oats box on the floor of their cage, most Bourkes prefer a box with its opening near the top of their cage. But, where there’s motivation, most anything will do. What your birds need is motivation. Smile.

Are you using pine shavings in the bottom of the box? About an inch to two inches thick is good. Do NOT use cedar shavings…the odor will put them off. Budgerigars don’t use shavings, but Bourkes and Splendids do.

If you have a successful pair the male should be feeding the female. He should also be investigating the box to be sure it is “safe” before she enters. In rare instances, a female will enter first if the male hasn’t been attentive enough. But, correct sequence of events is that he checks it out first.

Lastly, but MOST IMPORTANT: Are they getting enough light? Day length triggers the breeding response. They should have over 12 hours of day light each day, preferably 14-16 hours. Artificial light works too. Where I live in Southern Oregon it’s currently still light at 9pm and light again by 5am. Artificial lighting isn’t necessary as our birds are all near windows.

If you read my earlier blogs, last summer we had several visitors that upset our Bourkes and they didn’t breed. Hence, we used artificial lighting in the following fall and raised several clutches then. We turned lights on when we got up at 6am and they stayed on until the sun came up. In the evenings, the lights stayed on until 9 or 10pm. That triggered the birds to begin breeding.

Are your birds in a quiet place? They can get used to children or pets, but it might take a while if they were used to solitude before you bought them. Is the nest box secure enough that it doesn’t wobble?

Be sure your birds have calcium sources: cuttlebone and mineral block. I also like to give mine small amounts of Petamine breeding formula almost daily during breeding season. It’s a treat they love and should give them extra vitamins, etc.

I hope this helps. I’ll post later about my experience with my first pair from a bird show. It was much like yours. Good Luck!

Bourke Parakeet Location & Coloration

Here is a map of the areas where Bourke Parakeets originated and still live in the wild. I would hazard a guess that there are now as many domestic Bourkes living around the world as there are living wild in Australia.

Probably there are more domestic Rosy Bourkes outside Australia and Tasmania than living there. However, Australian bird breeders raise Rosies too and seem to have a wider span of color varieties than anywhere else.  

As you know, Rosies (or Rosas in the UK) are not the native, natural color, but have been bred to increase the pink/rose shades.  Some Bourkes have even been bred to be more blue and even yellow, although the yellow looks rather washed out to me. See the photo at right of a "yellow" Bourke. It was taken from Doreen Haggard’s “Bourke’s Parakeets” book published in the UK. 

Will a yellow Bourke ever be as bright and colorful as a yellow Budgie or Turquoisine?  I don’t believe yellow Bourkes begin to compare with either of those parakeets.  Also, the bright pink and rose of the Bourke Parakeet is so very unique and unequaled in any other parakeet, so I see no advantage is striving for yellow.  However, I do enjoy the bright blue rumps on some of the Rosy Bourkes, and it is especially pretty on a Normal Colored Bourke. So, an all blue Bourke sounds attractive. Yet, Budgerigars have that color already firmly established. But, no others share in the remarkable shades of rose and pink found only in Bourkes.

This photo of two of my very young Rosy Bourkes shows the difference in color between a Rosy and a Pink. These two are siblings from the same clutch. They lack the blue rump that appears on both their Rosy parents, indicating perhaps that they are moving even farther from the Normal coloration.

Below is a Rosy Bourke male and a pair of Normal Bourkes. Notice the beautiful blue on their shoulders and the turquoise color at the base of the tail. The pink at the bottom of their chests is more muted and doesn't rise as far as on Rosy Bourkes derived from them.