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The Finch Diaries
What's New in the Aviary?
November 1998
| Saturday,
November 7, 1998
Widowed Red Waxbill Finds Friendship
A couple of months ago, our male red eared waxbill was
found dead one morning. It was shocking to see his stiff little body on the aviary's floor
when I went to feed them. I examined his body for signs of what might have killed him, but
there were none. He was in perfect feather, his abdomen seemed normal with no lumps, and
there was no blood on him at all.
His mate was left in the company of the other finches and
I'd long hoped she'd become friends with the community's other small waxbills. The St.
Helena's and rosy rumped
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ABOVE: Left to right,
the remaining red eared waxbill
being preened
by a male St. Helena's waxbill
who is being preened
by a female rosy rumped waxbill. |
waxbills
had been in the aviary from the beginning and had formed a small group of two male St.
Helena's and two female rosy rumped waxbills. When the red eared waxbills were introduced,
they were shunned by the foursome. As seen in the photo above, the red eared waxbill has,
indeed, been able to break into the St. Helena's and rosy rumped group. At the time the
photo was taken, I watched this configuration of birds for about ten minutes to see how
close the bond between them had become. The bond was still quite weak. I have such a
strong feeling that the red ear would like to become much closer to the other four since
she is alone. However, if she is able to do to become closer with the group, it will only
be after a long time has passed and/or if one of the other waxbills dies.
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| Sunday,
November 22, 1998
Life Goes on as Usual
All is well in the aviary these days. There has been no
illness and everyone seems to be getting alone well.
The green singers have settled down from their hormonal
high. The female had been spending a lot of time daily sitting in one of the food dishes.
However, since I did a major clean and moved dishes, etc. around, she no longer seems
interested in nesting - hooray!
Lately, whenever I deem it to be the day I write on these
pages, I search the FinchCam photo archive for photos that tell stories of our finches'
lives. The two photos to the right show some of their personal interactions. The two
interacting birds in the top photo are behaving in a friendly manner toward each other
based on the evidence that their heads are on a similar level. The two birds in the bottom
photo, however, are not so friendly at the moment. The head of one bird is significantly
higher than that of the other. The higher headed bird is even standing on its toes, so to
speak, to communicate its displeasure. Since I was not witness to either of these
exchanges, I don't know if the society finch in the top photo was preened by the red
cheeked cordon bleu. Nor do I know if the red eared waxbill flew away or just backed off
from the St. Helena's waxbill.
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ABOVE: Left, a rosy
rumped waxbill
preening herself. Our lone society finch looks,
middle, looks as if he's just about to
"beg a preen" from our lone female
red cheeked cordon bleu.
BELOW: Left, our
lone red eared waxbill
looks as though she's defending herself
from the bill of one of our two St. Helena's
waxbills. Right, the male gold breasted waxbill
oblivious to the proceedings.
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