As the days are getting warmer, the mozzies come to snack, there is some little chirping, coming from the back. You see, our birds have babies, or in the least they have eggs, something that I never thought, I’d ever get to see…
Sorry, but I thought I would go with the spirit of the season. Indeed, our finches are in the process of raising their 3rd brood (in as many months), with 5 little heads stretching up to be fed this time. Talk about more than doubling their breeding efforts! (more…)
Sometimes, you have to be cruel to be kind when it comes to your loved ones. Recently, we had to be cruel to our finches, and we removed their eggs from the cage.
Don’t get all huffy on me now, I had good reason for it. Firstly, many of the eggs had been laid in the seed dish and were practically 
abandoned. Then there was the fact that the finches themselves kept tossing them out of the nest box and lastly, some of the eggs were damaged.
As each egg was removed, I carefully broke them open to see if they had been fertilized and how far away from hatching they had been. Some were fertilized, but most weren’t. The ones that were, had stopped developing at various stages, with the last seeming to be only days away from hatching.
Les had done his research on finches, particularly about their breeding habits, and found that at first, they aren’t the greatest parents in the world. His research uncovered the fact that it can take 5 or more clutches of eggs before they get the nesting and hatching part right, and a further few broods before they are successful at raising their babies to adulthood. Sad, but it is the way they are. (more…)
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