CAGE BIRDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22391, 11 April 1936, Page 9 (Supplement)

CAGE BIRDS

TVAST week, we dealt with the breaking into captivity of the newly-caught youflg goldfinches, sometimes called " grey pates " on account of the fact that their heads are dark grey and not yet showing the red colour of the adult bird.

Undoubtedly, the principal use of the goldfinch here is in mule breeding. The progeny are excellent songsters when they are cock birds and in addition, you can obtain in either sex, very prettily marked mules, and possibly come near to or attain the ideal of the mule breeder, the clear yellow goldfinch canary mule. Strange to say, the production of hybrid mules appeales to some people more than does the breeding of the pure species. Almost every fancier has dabbled, at one time or another, in the production of hybrids of different kinds.

The use of the word " mule " may lead to some confusion. It is really a fanciers' name for the progeny of a goldfinch and a canary. The term " mule " is also applied to the progeny of a canary and any other British bird, but as we have so few British birds out here, " mule " has come to be accepted as a term for a goldfinch-canary cross principally. The cross between two British birds is always referred to as a hybrid.

BREEDING OF MULES The following cock British birds are usually used with hen canaries to produce mules —goldfinches, greenfinches and redpolls. There are a few instances of other crosses being obtained. For instance, it is reported on reliable information, that a chaffinch was mated with a canary and produced young, while also a yellowhammer paired with a canary produced what was thought to be an impossible hybrid. In New Zealand we have not the advantages of the mule breeders in the Old Country where they can use linnets, siskins and several other of the British finches. Mules are classified as dark, variegated and light. Dark mules are mostly dark in their feathering showing distinct traces of their finch parents. Light mules are those more light than dark,, and showing their mixed parentage principally from their shape. In fact, an experienced fancier or judge should be able to determine the parentago of the mule or hybrid from its shape as well as from its colour. (To be continued.)

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS H.T.K., "Waitoa.—Budgerigar: See reply given in last week's column to A.G.McD., '•vertigo in budgerigars." Owing to the inbreeding that has gone on among yellow budgerigars in an endeavour to produce a rich colour without any green on the rump, diseases of the nervous system seem to have become more prevalent with this colour than with any other. You aie probably getting the result of inbreeding in past generations. Make sure the bird is not constipated; feed her with seeds soaked in cod-liver oil and ample supplies of green grass seed. Keep the bird where there is no chance of it being frightened or upset by people constantly passing the aviary. This is about all that can be done and you will probably be fortunate if she succeeds' in rearing the present number of youngsters. If she does this and shows no signs of improvement, I think it would be kindness to chloroform her. I would like to know what eventually happens, as I am very interested in this tendency of the yellow budgerigar to nervous disorders and to paralysis of some part. 8.L., West End Road.—Zebras: Do not try to induce your zebra finches to go to nest now. Wait until the proper breeding time conies along, which is usually about November and December, although sometimes at the commencement of the breeding season only clear eggs are laid. If you start now, egg-binding and other troubles will eventuate. The stimulating food you can give the birds is a mixture of seedling Erasses in addition to n little insect food suitable for Pekin nightingales, and a little bread and milk. They prefer soft hay and white feathers for nesting material.

Br TAILFEATHERS

Letters requesting Information regarding the care of cage birds will be answered in this column each week. Readers are invited to write to Tailfeathers, New Zealand Herald Office, Auckland.

G.W.P., Rooky Nook.—Budgerigar: Wail until the beginning of September, or, if the weather is mild, the end of August Then feed a good quality white millet Beed and a little extra hulled oats together with green seeds available, which at that time of the year would principally be prairie grass, Further'on toward this time of the year morei detailed advice will be given. You are only looking for trouble in letting your birds breed now.

"New Chum," "Waitoa.—Budgerigar: Yott , cannot get budgerigars to breed- with tKa same ease as you can switch on an electfio ' light. Age, condition and weather all hav® to be considered. If you were careful to secure good birds in the first place, I suggest you let them develop in the largal aviary flight until the end of August or the beginning of September. There are many things that could have prevented theic breeding, the usual causes having been dealt with in past notes. See- also answer to G.W.P.

E.F.C., Kaitaia. Budgerigar-canary r See two previous replies. It is not necessary to separate the pair of budgerigars when they do have young. In fact, it is decidedly to the disadvantage of the physical condition of the youngsters. It is also too late to try breeding canaries—the weather is all against the birds. Wait until spring, which is the natural time for breeding. The mal» budgerigar, when over four months of age, has a bluish-coloured sktn on top of the nostrils. The hen budgerigar of the same age has the skin from pale blue or any shade of cream to dark coffee colour, according to age and breeding condition. "When this skin, in the hen, is a rich brown colour, she is ready for nesting. With the canaries in the breeding season, the cock will Bhow his sex particularly by singing. Also, the vents of the twai birds are totally different, that of the male being protrudent. Your green budgerigat mated to a blue will produce all greens, providing the green was pure bred, but the progeny will have the capacity to produce both greens and bines when mated to a blue, or td a bird bred in a similar manner to themselves. The number of blues that can be expected will be greater when the progeny are paired to a blue than when paired to si green/blue. Sky blue to eky blue always produces sky blue, but with budgerigars th*. colour of the progeny is determined by tha colours which produced the actual colour of the parents. Glad the notes have been of such use to you : ->

" Interested," Pongakawa. Budgerigar* You certainly have asked enough question! to fill the column if dealt with fully, but I presume you have previously been reading these notes, and I will, therefore, shorten the answers. Exercise and correct diet for the budgerigar during the winter is essential if you are going to be successful in breeding in the spring. A flight 20ft. or 30ft. in length is advisable for the winter. The minimum size enclosure for breeding in a cage should be approximately 36in x 18in". x 18in. Smaller are, in my opinion, detrimental to the birds. Some prefer breeding in smalt aviaries, giving a flight of about 6ft. Your present flight-, 9in x 6in. x Gin., is not long enough to give the birds sufficient exercise —they cannot fly; they can only hop. It is. not essential to separate the sexes during the winter, but this should be done at the approach oi: spring. Separation is an advantage if possible. Candidly, if you have hadall the birds you mention very early in the breeding season until now without any breeding results, there is a definite fault, somewhere. Maybe your trouble is in not giving each pair one enclosure in which to breed. It is useless, with a small number of birds,.. trying to produce all colours. It is better to concentrate on several favoured shades, and aim to attain perfection in them. You are trying to produce the majority of colours with five pairs of birds. This gives you no opportunity whatever of culling and breeding from the best of each colour, nor of using several birds o£ olive/cobalt suffusion paired to cobalt, to proa-i;e better shades of cobalt birds. The use of olive blood to deepen the wbalt is a great advantage. I suggest the following pairing, the cocks coming first Green to green; white/sky blue suffusion to greywing/sky suffusion;;' olive to mauve; white/cobalt suffusion to" iky blue; cobalt to yellow. These pairingswill also produce birds of great use for future breeding.