FEATURE
to impress a hen will burst into a quiet song, and he will also perform an amusing little dance. This is usually the best way to sex Bengalese, cocks sing and hens don’t apart from rare exceptions.
Many of the Bengalese offered for a sale in pet shops are often aviary bred, and are typically little birds of various shades of dull brown with a few white patches. However Bengalese are available in colours ranging from nearly black to pure white with various shades of browns and grey. Bengalese are categorised into two basic forms - Selfs and Variegated. The Variegated (pied) birds can be just a few white feathers to an almost white bird with a few coloured feathers, while most of the Self birds have distinct patterns of dark and light feathers. With such a wide range of colours it is possible to have a large varied collection. To get full appreciation of Bengalese varieties, I would recommend visiting a show, such as the Parrot Society UK organised National Bird Show, held in October at the Stafford Show ground. The exhibition side of the show includes large numbers of quality Bengalese, in most of the established colours.
It is easy to fit anodised closed rings to Bengalese chicks. If issued by the NBFA, each ring will be coloured and carry the breeder’s exclusive
membership code number, a sequence number and the year. The NBFA have recently adopted the Confederation Ornithologique Mondiale (COM) colour sequence. With closed ringing, it is therefore easy to identify the age of the birds. For a newcomer I would recommend only buying year current birds or birds from the previous year. A converted room, shed, garage or outbuilding is a good basis for housing Bengalese. An aviary with access to a weatherproof shelter is also suitable. Bengalese are easy to feed, in fact only a basic foreign finch seed mixture with fresh water will maintain healthy Bengalese. However, a more varied diet is advisable, including green food, and egg food while they are breeding. Bengalese are one of the easiest birds to breed, if proper care is taken. Light is very important for breeding and even on the coldest winter days Bengalese will breed freely if good lighting is provided. Not only are Bengalese good at raising their own species they are renown as excellent foster parents for other waxbill species. It is unlikely that the beautiful Gouldian Finch would have been established in aviculture without the use of Bengalese. It should be noted that having been domesticated for a long time, Bengalese have a relatively high tolerance to diseases compared to other species.
BIRD SCENE 17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
