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FEATURE


We both inspect our nest-boxes regularly to make sure that all is well, but we stop looking once youngsters have been close rung – and certainly before they are 12 days old. This is to avoid chicks leaving the nest before they are mature enough to do so safely. It is normal for strong, feathered, healthy zebra finch chicks to leave the nest-box and return.


that we have seen. A fairly common one is the enclosed wicker basket with a small entrance hole. Although these go some way toward replicating wild-type nests and can look quite attractive when colony breeding in an aviary, they are no use at all for cage breeding as you cannot make inspections or get at the chicks to ring them. Among the more unusual nest- boxes we have seen are empty plastic margarine tubs. We once went to an aviary where these were being used to breed zebra finches, canaries and foreign finches all in the same flight. The whole set-up was crude – and, at first sight, unsuitable – but there were eggs and chicks everywhere. We have seen homemade cardboard nest-boxes constructed from egg food cartons. When Gerald visited Australia he found many bird rooms, and most of the equipment, was made out of metal. This is because termites eat anything made from wood. One breeder went one step further and used cans that had contained tinned fruit as nesting appliances for his zebra finches. They appeared to work well. Finally, and also


in Australia, one breeder used blocks of foam rubber, 3in (7.5cm) thick and 6in (15cm) square, with a concave hollowed out in the top surface, placed inside conventional nest-boxes. No other nesting material whatsoever was made available to the birds. At the end of a breeding round, the foam was washed, disinfected and hung out to dry. Once again, it is easy to imagine conventionalists saying that such an arrangement is unsuitable for breeding zebra finches – but the breeder supplied his own answer. He was breeding zebra finches by the dozen.


THE START OF THE ZEBRA FINCH BREEDING SEASON Some keen zebra finch fanciers will have started their breeding seasons early in the year. However, many others – particularly those without electric lighting and heating in their bird rooms – will be pairing up their birds by the end of March / beginning of April. Any breeding season has its share of disappointments – and most have some successes. The starting point to any successful breeding


BIRD SCENE 19


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