FEATURE


BREEDING ZEBRA FINCHES One of the many challenges of breeding Zebra finches is that no two breeding seasons are ever alike. For example, in both our birdrooms, at the start of one season we had problems because the birds were too fit. This manifested itself in hens laying another clutch of eggs before they had finished incubating the first. By the second and third breeding rounds came around they had settled down and their breeding behaviour was normal. We believe that a major reason for the disrupted first round was the weather being unseasonable. The seasons of the year appear to have become mixed up so that we get warmer than usual days in winter and colder than usual days in summer. To some extent, this has always happened but it is becoming the rule rather than the exception. So for the next breeding season we put


down most of our pairs to breed in mid- December. The contrast with the previous year was marked. Rather than being paired at the height of condition, our Zebras were put together as they were coming towards that peak. This time, the breeding pairs went about their business steadily and sensibly. Of course, there were a few pairs that did not get off to a good start, but their second round coincided with the timing of last year’s first rounds, so nothing was lost.


BIRD SCENE 41


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