Can Parakeets Be Mean Or Cruel? Kill Their Young or Their Mates? Questions.

 

I've been answering questions to rosie.birds@gmail.com, but haven't blogged lately. I have many questions and answers to post and eventually will; however, this one arrived today and touches me. Here it is with my answer. Please don't hesitate to comment if you've experienced anything like it, or have suggestions. Thanks!  

 

QUESTION:

Hi.  I wonder if you can give me some advice please. I had a pair of Bourkes parakeets. The little pink one was the male, the normal the female. They have lived together for three and a half years.  The female has laid eggs four times. Time before last two hatched but she killed the babies.

Yesterday we went out for the afternoon and evening and when we got home the floor surrounding the cage, which is huge, was covered in pink feathers. The Rosie was at the bottom of the cage with hardly any feathers and blood on his back. He was obviously in shock. We put the separated in the cage to keep the female away from him, gave him some water and millet and left him for the night.

This morning when we got up he was dead in the corner of the cage.

I am heartbroken as he was such a gentle lovable little character.  I can't understand why the female killed him. Do you know if this is normal behaviour.  We don't know what to do with the female now as she will be on her own.  It would appear that she does want babies as she keeps laying eggs and sitting on them. I would be so glad of any advice you could give.  Thank you.

 

 

ANSWER: 

Wow, how terrible. Are you certain she did it? Sounds like you are. Parakeets of any variety can have birds that are mean. Bourkes are usually very sweet, but exceptions happen. I am surprised, however, that the male Bourke didn't fight back and protect himself even though Bourke females usually do boss (hen peck) their mates. I wonder if he was already weak or sick. All birds hide their health problems very well.

I had one hen that I think was mentally ill. I'd sold a Rosy hen with a Normal male. The person who bought them had them for a while, then gave them to her grandmother. While there, they laid a clutch of eggs and hatched one. One day she called to ask me to take them back. She said the baby had died in the nest and they didn't want to go through that again. She didn't tell me if the baby was bloody, but I've wondered since. Had no reason to speculate about it at the time. I don't know what the pair lived like for about two years away from me.

 

When I got them back, I put the Rosy hen with a Rosy male and sold the Normal male. She hatched two eggs and when I checked, one baby was dead with its neck torn open. I took out the other and found a wound on it too. I hand fed that baby. With the next clutch, I checked daily and after four eggs hatched, the littlest had a wound on him. So, I removed and hand fed all four.

At that point, I removed the hen and gave the male a different hen. I believed he was the culprit and thought that would tell me. However, he and the new hen began raising healthy offspring and had many clutches without a problem.

Months later, the guilty hen began to hang her head oddly. Day by day it got worse and within a few days of that odd behavior, she died. Have to admit, I wasn't sorry to see her go. I've wondered if she had a brain tumor or something wrong with her. I still have two of her offspring, a brother and sister. They are both sweet birds and have raised many lovely Rosy Bourkes with their Rosy mates. I don't think the problem was genetic and wonder if that hen was driven crazy somehow in her former environment. Or, was there a health issue? No way to know.

Is there any chance that a rodent could get into the cage? The male would protect his mate, or try to. My cages have such narrow bars that nothing could get through, even if a mouse or something did get into the house. As much as I wanted to believe that a hen would not do that to her young, it was my hen...sounds like it's probably yours too. If your hen were mine, I'd be afraid to let her have another bird in a cage with her. Yet, she lived for 3 1/2 years with her mate ... really odd that she'd do that to him.

I've had other strange things happen with birds over the decades I've raised them. Below is a link to a blog I did about some of the "mean" birds I've encountered.

 

After you read the post below, especially about the feather pulling male Splendid, I should tell you that one of my Rosy Bourke males fed a sick Normal female all winter when she had something wrong with her. She must have had a stroke because all she could do was pull herself along the floor with her beak. He kept her fed and alive and she gradually recovered! Amazing. Only two toes remained paralyzed. That was my sweet Rhett bird. He'd lost Scarlett and I gave him Willow. After she recovered, I gave him a Rosy Bourke named Cherry. Cherry and Bing had not gotten along well, but Bing did fine with our Normal, Stella.

 

Sweet-natured, Normal Willow got Bing Jr. as a mate, a Normal split to Rosy, so they produced Rosy hens and Normal males.  Rhett and Willow never reproduced together, but each were good parents with their last mates. Loving Rhett had three hens in his lifetime and was kind to all of them. Cherry, on the other hand, was always bitchy ... poor Rhett. Scarlett and Willow were both nicer.

 

Problem Parents in several species of birds

 

Peace & Blessings.

 

Bourke Breeding and Personalities, Questions and Answers

Baby Rosy Bourke Parakeets

We receive many emails at rosie.birds@gmail.com and always try to respond. Sometimes we share those questions and answers like the ones below. (Note to Reader who left a comment saying their email is rosykeetbirds (etc), if that was you, the email bounces. You may want to try again by sending to our email address above. We can do a "reply" from there.  - Peace out.) 

 

QUESTION: Hello! Thank you for your wonderful blog!

We have male and female Bourkes and we have just had their first egg hatch and were wondering how soon we can handle the babies? There are four eggs altogether so we are still waiting to see if the others will hatch J We are so excited and love our birds. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

ANSWER:  Congratulations. Handling depends a lot on your pair. How tame are they? However, I band mine at about nine days of age, so they have to be handled then. I don't handle them in the first week, but would if their crops looked like the mother wasn't feeding them. At 9 days of age, I watch until I see the hen out of the box and then take the oldest out to band, wait a day or two and get the 2nd oldest, etc. I put them right back once the band is on. Not sure where you are, or if banding is necessary. My bands identify the breeder (me), the state in the USA they hatched in, the year of hatch and a band number exclusive to that bird. I order them online from L&M Bird Bands in California.

Rosie with newly hatched chick.



Every hen is different. Some will be very upset with you for removing their young; others will be mellow and not worry. Three of mine are hand fed and very tame, so I can push them aside. Couldn't do that when they were new mothers, or they'd scold, but they no longer do. The others are not as tame, but are used to me after many clutches. 

 

Do you want to tame them by handling them? If so, you might consider hand feeding. Lots of information about that on my blog. Bourkes can be tamed by hand, but they require parent feeding longer than a budgerigar, so they can't be taken away from their parents as early. Good luck.

 

ANOTHER QUESTION:  Thanks Gail. I will just try to gage the timing depending on how our mother is.

Both parents will sit on our fingers or shoulder but not stay for long. Although they have a fairly big cage, we let them out to fly each day around the house and they get on our fingers to go back in the cage. So they are fairly tame. Would love to be able to spend more time with them so they were a bit better.

We also have some budgies in a different cage and they all seem to get on well. We are in Australia. Still have to read more on your site so will probably learn a lot more as I go. Thanks very much. Have a wonderful day.

Hi Gail, I hope you don’t mind me asking you another question?

We have noticed the mother Bourke has left a large dropping in the breeding box and was wondering if it is ok to wipe it out? We have had two eggs out of the four hatch but it has been six days since the last one hatched. Should we remove the unhatched eggs from the box? Thanks again.  Fiona
 

ANSWER:  I leave unhatched eggs in the nest box. For one thing, they help keep the other babies warm. Even if there is a dead chick in one, it's not a problem to leave it there unless the egg is cracked or broken. I'd leave the extra eggs alone otherwise. In nature they stay in the nest and are valuable. However, if a chick is partially out of the egg and dies because it was unable to get out, then I remove it. Also, I remove any chicks that die, although eventually a mother will either toss out dead babies herself or bury them in the pine shavings if we don't remove them.   

Mother hens do have really big, gloppy, droppings. Most defecate outside the nest, but occasionally they can't wait or don't want to leave their young if it's really cold. The nice thing about having an inch or more of pine shavings in the bottom of the box is that they usually absorb it and make it easy to lift out. You can remove it, but I'd try to do it when she's out of the box, unless she's very tame and you know she won’t be frightened. No sense upsetting her. ;-)

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ANOTHER READER WRITES:

Hello, We recently got a young, hand-fed (two months old) Rosey Bourke and I understand they are difficult to sex. Is there any way besides a DNA test at this young age? Thanks, Ling

ANSWER:

Yes. Behavior. If you enter "sexing" into the search window on my website, you will get lots of posts about this.

 

Male Bourkes display differently than females. However, if it is a "lone" bird then it might have no reason to display. I've never had only one. My first Bourkes were a pair. Although they were nine months old when I bought them, the breeder recognized which of her youngsters were males and which were females by their behavior. I soon learned to identify them too.

 

Male Bourkes throw their shoulders back and flair their wings slightly at the shoulder, standing tall. I call this strutting. You won't see a hen do this and males do it at a very young age.

Hens take longer to behave like hens. If there is a male bird present they squat down and raise their tail, cheeping, (preferably for another Bourke, but I've seen them display for other parakeet varieties when no male Bourke is around). On rare occasions I've seen a male do this in front of a hen who doesn't want to mate...I think he's showing her how. :-) Birds have preferences for their mates too.

Normal male with Rosy female mating in lower corner.
He is on her back, but has yet to wrap his tail under her.

FYI: Bourke parakeets have never reproduced with any other variety of bird (grasskeets or Neophema). They are a genus all their own and don't produce mixtures (mules or otherwise) as some varieties can. For instance, like Splendids with Turks or Canaries with Green Singing Finches.

 

You might go on the internet and find some videos of Bourkes singing and see how your bird reacts. If it hears a hen and is a male, it might strut for you. ;-)

 

Normal Bourkes can be identified by feather color on males (blue above the cere), but Rosies cannot. Good luck, Gail

A young male Normal Bourke Parakeet.

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QUESTION:

I just love your blog and enjoy reading all the updates. I have a question, silly that it sounds but I am worried. I have to go overseas on a business trip (2 Months) and will be leaving my birds with a friend that I call the bird lady, she has finches, What I am worried about is, my rosies talk and are very attached to me, will they be different and stop talking when I am away, basically will they change very much.

Looking for some comfort!! Sue

ANSWER:

Hello Sue, Not silly at all. We love our birds.

 

If moving from one house to another, be sure to cover the cage to avoid cold drafts when going outdoors from one house to another, or from house to car and car to house.

Two months might be a long time in a bird's life, but I don't think they'll forget you. Once returned to their former environment, their memories will be rekindled. Even if they are a bit stand-offish at first (and they may not be), they should come around once you've been home with them for a few days.

 

Your friendly voice will be reassuring. Now, if your "bird lady" friend is extra special nice to them, they may take to her right away and temporarily forget their former home in preference for the new one, but if you've made them happy before, they'll soon be again. ;-) Offer them their favorite treats when you get home and talk to them a lot. Spray millet is, of course, a favorite. Mine love cooked sweet petite corn, or sweet petite peas (I buy the frozen and cook it).

 

For the first few days with her they may be quiet and fearful, but will readjust to both moves fairly quickly. Good thing she has finches. Parakeets are subject to illnesses that are sometimes carried by love birds, cockatiels, doves and pigeons that don't make those birds sick, but can be bad for parakeets and finches. Of course, those birds aren't always carriers, just sometimes, and it usually won't show up in them. The Bourkes will probably enjoy hearing the other birds at her place. Maybe you'll decide to add more birds when you get home. Smile.
 

Two sweet baby Rosy Bourke Parakeets.

 

Peace and Blessings,

Gail

 

 

Bourke & Splendid Parakeet Personalities ... Also Handfeeding Baby Birds

In answer to a comment question on the post “Splendid Bourke Parakeets, or Those Moody Bourkes and Splendids” here is the answer I gave her about feeding baby birds and more. It contains relevant information and many won’t find it tucked away in a comment section, so here it is:

 Newly hatched Bourke parakeet chicks.



Three baby Bourkes being hand fed.

 


After a hand feeding with a full crop...

On Hand Feeding... 


This was for Lauren: Baby chicks should be fed as soon as their crop is empty. If newly hatched, check them every couple of hours. If they are a week old, I'd feed them before going to bed, and set an alarm to get up at least once in the middle of the night to feed them again...maybe at four-hour intervals over night. Once they're feathered you can skip the night feeding and probably feed them three or four times a day. The younger they are the more often they need to be fed. Crops need to be almost empty in order to be sure it moves on through. Parent birds feed the babies until they look like they will explode, so feed them until they look very, very full or refuse to eat more. If you see a bulge over their shoulders from the back, they're probably getting enough. Exact handfeeding formula gives good instructions on density of food by age of your babies. Good Luck.

Lauren said she's losing two babies in clutches of four. Here's my answer:

My Bourke parents when young often reject more than two babies. Sad. However, as they've aged, they've raised up to four, but never five. I've learned to check the babies every morning, afternoon and evening. If they don't appear to have been fed, I pull them to hand feed. Sometimes I've put them back with the parents to keep them warm...they feed the first two and I feed the last two. You asked about temperature for a box or fish tank. If it feels warm to my hand and the babies are warm, it's probably okay. Eggs need to be at 98 degrees, so that's about right for babies. I've not used a thermometer with babies, but trust what I feel with my hand. If the house is 72 degrees, I put a small space heater near their box. When old enough they move toward or away from the warm side of the box. If possible, hand feed more than one baby at a time and they will help keep each other warm.

Ready to be fed ...



Babies are full and these 2 from an earlier clutch enjoy a nibble too.

 Another note: Hens drink a lot of water when laying eggs and raising young. Have extra sources available to be sure they never run out of fresh water. I use a water cup so they can hop into it and take a bath. Since they splash most of the water out, they also have water tubes on the side of their cages.

When feathered & soon able to fly, they go into a cage, but still
want a place to snuggle into. Here a tissue box let's them go in
and out and feel safe, warm and secure, but not free to fly off.

Eggs need a certain amount of moisture, so water tubes alone aren't enough. A hen needs to be able to bathe any time she thinks it's necessary.

Lauren also said she wants to add Splendids. These little clowns are wonderfully active fun birds. HOWEVER, be prepared for a lot more work! They foul their water almost as soon as they get it. I give them extra containers of water, hoping it will stay drinkable for a full day. Still, it begins to get yucky within an hour or two and after 24 hours may smell.

Rudy outside his mate's nest box.

I like to put newspaper in the bottom of my cages to keep them cleaner and can change the paper more often than clean the wire on the cage floor. Splendids make short work of newspaper. They shred it, play with it, put it in their water. They chew more than Bourkes, and sometimes toss small things out of the cage and onto the floor...like fresh vegies, for instance. They are fun, beautiful and take more time and trouble. Bourkes are quieter, cleaner birds... That's why I have so many more Bourkes than Splendids. Smile.

Both varieties are sweet-natured and make wonderful pets.

Breakfast for Bourke's

The month of August is very full for us as three of our six grandchildren will be visiting all month.

This photo was taken by my 15-year-old grandson, Matthew, who was willing to take the picture for me. Although, perhaps in typical teen-age male behavior, he refuses to have his own photo taken. Smile.

I'm feeding a baby Bourke and our young adult, tame Bourkes are helping themselves to some Exact Hand Feeding formula too. It's a bit of a treat for them. They don't eat much of it, but they always want a taste or two. It seems to help keep them engaged with me vs. flying around and pestering our other birds...those who aren't allowed out for free flying. I'd have to get a net to catch the others, and frankly, there are too many and nets upset all of them.

Currently, I have five who enjoy free flying with me each morning. The cats and dog go outside and then the birds fly freely for a little while. Fortunately, they are usually willing to return to their cages when I want them to.

Bourkes are very sweet-natured birds and typically quieter than most.

Kaytee Exact Hand Feeding Program for Birds  I haven't seen this video, but found it offered at Amazon.com for anyone who is interested. 

May the rest of your summer be blessed and your birds remain healthy and happy!

Tame Bourke Parakeets and their Differences

Flame in back, Rosie in front. My favorite birds.

This is a photo of my two favorite Bourke parakeets. At present, I have 22 Bourkes and six Splendids.

Actually, these two are brother and sister, although they came from different clutches. Rosie's parents put their youngsters at risk (discussed earlier), so her clutch of four was pulled and handfed very early on. Rosie, in front, grew up with three wonderful siblings and it was difficult to decide which one to keep and which of them to sell. I wanted to keep them all. She was selected because even at a very early age, she always flew to me directly from the cage, or from anywhere else when I called her. That helped me decide to keep her.

Baby Bourkes ready to sell.

I expected to hand feed an unrelated baby and try to match "him" up with her. However, in a later clutch from her parents, one began to feather in a deep rose color. Darker than any of my other birds, I decided to keep him and named him Flame. Now, I have the dilemma of choosing mates for each of them! Instead of decreasing my flock as I wanted to, I'll be adding to it.

Rosie and Flame help tame other babies as they fledge. The wonderful thing about Rosie and Flame is that whenever they come out to fly ... just about every morning ... when it's time to go back in their cage, they go without any trouble. Not so, with many of the babies who often resist going home to a cage and would rather keep flying about the room. Hence, I'm very fond of Rosie and Flame because they are so willing to do whatever I ask of them.  

No matter how many tame youngsters I have out at a time, Rosie is the one who always chooses to stay with me. She gives kisses, let's me kiss her back and stays with me most of the time. She's very affectionate. On the other hand, Flame will sit on my shoulder, but doesn't interact as much. She's curious and investigates anything I'm doing.

We visited North Bend, Oregon's new Boardwalk yesterday. The photos below are taken there. Happy Sunday everyone and God bless you.

Taken from North Bend, Oregon Boardwalk.

BOURKES, COCKATIELS & EGG LAYING

Chloe asked, "I have a female pet cockatiel. She's going on 6 years old, and has not yet demonstrated any wish to lay eggs (although she has not had a mate). I do not wish her to start laying eggs - even though they'd be infertile - as I am worried about egg-binding, and other health issues.

This weekend, I will be bringing home a young male Rosey Bourke's. I've read from your posts that they will feed any female Bourke's or Splendid - sometimes even a less dominant male, and I was wondering if they would try that with a different species, as well (ie. my cockatiel)?

Should I be worried about him triggering her motherly instincts? Also, will he become protective of her, and become aggressive to me?"

Chloe, My experience is it's unlikely that a Bourke or Cockatiel hen will lay eggs if they don't have a nest box or similar "safe" place to hide in. Even when a male is present, they need that nest box. My first tame pair of cockatiels were in a large 3-sided cage that fit against a corner wall. When they started chewing a hole into the wall, I was annoyed and didn't realize at the time that they were attempting to carve out a nesting area. The hole got quite big, but before they could use it, they were removed and the whole wall covered with mahogany siding. (If the room's siding is ever removed, someone will wonder how that big hole got there).

 

As long as my pair didn't have a nest box (over a decade), the hen never laid an egg and no mating occurred.

 

With that same pair, I also had a tame blue budgie who was allowed out of his cage when the cockatiels were. He did all sorts of mating display behaviors in front of the cockatiel hen, but she ignored him. He was smitten with her, but she cared only for the male cockatiel... Who, by the way, never seemed to be bothered by the budgie's wooing behaviors. None of the three birds ever became aggressive to each other or to people. When a budgie hen was eventually provided, all four birds got along splendidly.

 

Although Budgies will attempt to breed with another species, Bourke's have never been known to do so. For this, and other reasons, they've recently been classified in a genus all their own, no longer with other Neophema's. It is unlikely that your male Bourke will attempt to feed your cockatiel. Hopefully, however, they will form a friendship of some kind.

 

There is no need to worry about him "triggering her motherly instincts," as it's her eggs that would do that. Also, having a hen around has never made any of my male Bourke's aggressive to me or anyone else. Their only aggression might be toward another male trying to steal their mate, but even then I've never seen them hurt each other (although for Splendid breeders, I have seen male Splendids draw blood on another male, and need to be separated). Bourkes tend to be very mellow, sweet birds.

 

Hope this helps. Good luck introducing your new friend to your older one. I wouldn't expect any problems.

Question on Personalities - Male or Female?

Marie asked: "My female 12-yr-old Rosy Bourke died yesterday. I have 1 one-yr-old female. Now should I get another female or a male?"

You have our sympathy. It's possible to become quite attached to our pets and Bourkes can be very sweet and interactive.

The obvious question would be, "Do you want to raise baby Bourkes?" I assume not, or you wouldn't be asking which sex is best...you'd already know you want a male. 

As a woman, even if sexual relations were not an issue, I'd rather live with my husband than my very best female friend. Your Rosy is probably no different. A female companion is better than none, but a male...well, he's going to mean a lot more to her.

If you don't provide a nest box, your pair will probably not breed. Nest boxes stimulate the urge to raise young. However, I had one experienced mother hen who didn't wait for me to return her nest box during the breeding season and laid an egg in her seed cup. This is unusual, however, and even less likely with a bird that's never raised young before.

Even though a pair without a nest box probably won't breed, the male will likely feed her. This is a bonding activity, similar perhaps to human kissing. It also proves he can be a competent father. Male Bourkes feed the hen while she's brooding and raising chicks. They later take over feeding the offspring when the young leave the nest and he helps them learn to feed themselves.

A happy pair of Bourkes will sit together much of the time and the male will offer to feed the hen occasionally. Male Bourkes are also lovely singers. They naturally wolf whistle (softly) and their songs are longer. They spend more time singing than hens do. They're also more active because of their courtship behaviors.

My recommendation is that a male will offer you (and your hen) more entertainment than will another female. Too bad you don't live in Oregon. I have two young male Rosy Bourkes available who are hand fed and very tame.

Best of luck and God Bless you and all your pets, four-legged or winged.

Smile.

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

Bourke & Splendid Update on Switching Mates

BOURKES:

This post is mostly about disappointments, however, keep in mind that we did just band baby Bourke #25…so there is also much good news for 2010.

Currently, Brandy is on three eggs with Rory. He never produced fertile eggs with Bella and we hope he does better with Brandy. She is the hen who had a baby savaged and others injured. I had to rescue all her babies with Chitter and hand feed them. Now, Chitter is with Bella (Rory’s former mate). Chitter and Bella are successfully raising one baby, the only fertile egg that Bella has ever laid. This baby is still in the nest, but fully feathered and has never had any injury. So, Chitter and Bella may prove to be a happy, successful pair with Chitter exonerated.

If Rory is also unable to fertilize Brandy’s eggs, then perhaps she is the best hen for him to have, since it is beginning to look like she is the guilty party who injured her young. Brandy is currently on two eggs with more expected. She came from one of our best breeding pairs. They were wonderful parents. One of Brandy’s hand fed daughters is my favorite bird…very affectionate, very intelligent and so sweet. Genetics isn’t reliable at predicting what a bird’s (or a person’s) personality is going to be like.

Sugar is back on three eggs. She and Spice have had two previous clutches that were fertile, but did not hatch. She seems devoted to incubating her eggs, so I don’t believe the problem is that they got cold. Must be something else. Spice is a hand fed Normal Bourke. Rosie, my favorite hand fed Bourke hen, is very interested in him. If none of Sugar’s eggs hatch this time around, I may replace Sugar with Rosie. Sugar isn’t tame, and for that matter, isn’t as pretty as Rosie. I could put Sugar with Spicy’s father, Bing Jr., as his hen, Willow, is older than Bing Jr. and she’s no longer interested in brooding.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

SPLENDIDS:

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that our two pairs of Splendids haven’t produced any youngsters for the past two years.

And so, this year I swapped Splendid mates. Although Rainbow and Rivka were observed attempting to mate, her eggs were not fertile with him either. It’s so disappointing! The other new pair took longer to become friendly with each other. The hen, Jewel, has entered the nest box and Rainbow Jr. has been feeding her. However, no attempts at mating have been observed. It seems unlikely that she will hatch her eggs either.

There is one other recourse available, short of finding new Splendids, which I haven’t been able to do. We have two extra Splendid males. Unfortunately, Flip is unable to fly due to a “window accident” as a very young bird … hence his name … after his accident, when he tried to fly with his injured wing, he’d flip over. The other male, Rudy, is one I traded for. He came from the same breeder who provided the hens and the breeder can’t tell me whether the three birds are, or are not, related to each other. I had hoped to acquire another hen for Rudy, but it has never happened. I’m considering putting him with one of these hens and see what happens. They just might accomplish something.

Decisions, decisions.

Looking ahead to future posts:

• Budgies make great kids’ pets. How to be sure the Budgerigar parakeet you buy is a young one.

• Photos of intricately carved egg shells.

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!

A Splendid Question ... Today is a Day for Questions ...

Ron in Delaware asked about Splendid molting patterns and personalities of Bourkes vs. Splendids.

Ron, I have four male Splendids. Two are sons hatched here. Before they were out of the nest, I traded a Bourke for an unrelated Splendid, sex unknown because he was very young. My parent birds produced three male Splendids and I traded one, leaving me with two.

All three babies, who are actually younger than the one I traded for, gained their red chests quickly … long before the other male did. I don’t remember exactly how long it took him, but a year or more is probably the case. Even when his red feathers began to come in, they came in a lot slower than the others. Yet, today they all look alike. He was older and slower, but he caught up with the rest. I hope your bird will do the same. As for losing his tail and not flying well… that happened to the “late bloomer” too, but not to the others. He now flies equally well and looks just like them.

I think being slow to get their red chests has something to do with their parentage, and different birds sometimes develop at different rates. That said, the common scarlet-chested parakeet in its wild color is beautiful, but is being domestically bred to acquire different-looking birds. Some have more red and some less. Some have no red at all and are all yellow or blue in front.

So, although the odds are against it, you might end up with something that looks different than the standard Scarlet-chested parakeet. The person you bought your bird from should be able to tell you what the parents were like.

About personalities of Bourkes vs. Splendids: Check out the labels at the bottom of this post and click on “personalities” and/or “Splendids and Bourkes” and/or “Relationships.” This was discussed at length in earlier posts and the labels should find them for you.

Typically, Splendids are little clowns who like toys and games and will “play” more than Bourkes. Our “pink parakeets” tend to be more subdued. However, each bird has its own personality. I have one female Bourke who loves to play with bells and toys, unlike most of the others. All of my Splendids like the toys and are more active than the Bourkes.

My one and only handfed Splendid (actually the father of the three babies we discussed) was very tame, but once he got a mate and I quit handling him as often, he quit being as tame. He still comes to the door and nibbles or pecks my fingers, but doesn’t want to leave the cage any longer. If I force him to, he will sit on my finger, but is reluctant about it. He used to try to “feed” me and was very affectionate. However, he’s transferred that to a mate and other than talking to me every morning and trying to get my attention, he’s not interested in leaving the cage to visit. He’d rather talk to me and nibble fingers through the bars.

The same is true for a male Bourke that I hand fed. I didn’t keep handling him after he got a mate. He’s still willing to sit on my finger, but he could care less about me. He’s only interested in his mate.

Perhaps if these males had tame mates things might be different. I’m planning to give that a try with three handfed youngsters I intend to keep (and not sell). Odds are good that I’ll get a pair from those three and if not, I’ll hand feed until I do get an unrelated tame bird of the right sex. Then, I intend to handle them more frequently than I did with the others. Interaction and “sweet talk” is key.

Best of luck. Just be patient with your male Splendid…as long as his diet is healthy, give him time and you should have a beautiful bird.

Here are some young Splendids who don't have all their red in yet. It did eventually fill in all the way across their chests.