Gouldian Fledgling

My BH Gouldian baby left the nest yesterday and did some exploring, beofre lights out I put him back in the nest, he is the only surviving BH.

This morning he was out again and trying his wings.

After about an hour I didn't see him in the cage and I noticed his mom looking and beeping for him.

I looked in his nest and in the greenery but nothing.

Then finally I looked in the RH nest with 4 or 5 babies ready to fledge and there he was. Their nest is covered with fake flowers so its kinda hard to find an entrance but he found it. I moved some of the flowers so he could see out and his mom could see him in there.

Now the BH mom started to feed him in the RH's nest as soon as I moved the flowers, but the RH mom isn't too happy about the BH invading her nest but she decided to let BH feed her chick.

I did not know that a fledgeling would go into another nest with other unrelated fledglings, but I guess he was lonely.

Will both females feed each others chicks?

I guess I will find out as the day progresses and will the BH chick come back out or stay in the nest with his new friends?

Stay tuned for "As The Finch Turns"

The little BH visitor is still in the RH's nest with his friends. It looks like both the RH and BH are taking turns feeding the one fledgling and the others that will fledge this weekend.

The BH female feeds while the RH is eating and sometime the RH chases the BH around if she is still in the nest when the RH goes to feed, but so far so good.

I feel sorry for the BH because she wants her chick to come out from the RH nests but he is not budging.

I think I will call him/her "Sassy" because he won't listen to his mom to come out of the nest .

11/19/2011

Today Sassy, the BH fledgling came out of the RH's nest but it seems to be causing a big problem with both moms.

The RH seems to think that Sassy is hers now since she was in her nest and the BH knows it her chick so the two are chasing each other away from Sassy.

The BH is guarding Sassy on a perch and the RH keeps flying over to them and flying away, but she is not going in her own nest, she just keeps flying back and forth.

I may have to put the BH and her fledgling in a seperate cage if things don't calm down soon.

Update: Sassy went back in the RH's nest and the two moms are feeding them all.

Peace had been restored for now, stay tuned to "As The Finch Turns" for the next episode.

Or check your local Fnch listings for the time.

I got a good look in the RH nest this morning I moved more of the flowers back so they could see out better and there are 5 in her nest ready to fledge.

and Sassy - black head

One RH fledged this morning, 8:30 am, both moms were at the feeder but the RH ignored her fledgling and the BH feed him. Does the RH mom think her job is done once they fledge? BH mom is feeding both fledglings.

The BH is a lot bigger than the RH for fledging 3 days apart.

RH #2 fledged today and both moms are feeding them. The RH will feed her fledglings now, but not Sassy, the BH. The BH mom feeds all of them, fledglings and the one still in the RH nest.

The fledglings go back and forth to the nest and sleep in there at night with the others that will be fledging soon.

The good thing about taking the males out is that I don't have to worry about them wanting to breed again while the fledglings are still in the nest and I can leave the nest in there for them to sleep in.

All SIX RH nestlings FLEDGED TODAY.

To the RH mom for raising them by herself

To the BH mom for raising her one fledling and help in feeding the six RH fledlings.

The last two RH fledlings are a lot smaller than the others, but they are getting fed now that I can watch them since they are out of the nest. I am sure while they were still in the nest the other 4 RH babies got the most food.

In my case it worked out leaving the two females and the babies in the cage and taking out the males.

The BH really took some of the burden of feeding off of the RH so she wouldn't be feeding 6 fledings alone.

Its hard for me to beleive that the RH had 6 babies and then to raise them without the male is amazing.

Both females will be getting a nice rest after this.

The last two fledglings that came out of the nest yesterday 11/25, are so much smaller that the others, I am trying to get a picture of them sitting with the others to show the difference. They stay on the bottom of the cage and getting fed but I don't think they get as much as the bigger ones. Yesterday afternoon I put them both on the perch of the seed trough so they would get fed more and that helped a lot. I watched while one of their bigger fledglings tried to feed them. The bigger fledgling kept looking into the smaller one's open beak and then I saw it try to feed it. I don't know if it actually got food into the little one but it looked like it was doing it like the mother does. The smallest of the two does not fly yet but he hops around the bottom and can get on a dish in the bottom, it looks like I will have to put him back on the seed trough so he can get fed more. Last night I put them both back in the nest for the night and they came out on there own this morning.

The other fledgings are eating seed now but still begging when they see mom.

I have never handfed before and don't have anything here that I could use but I am so tempted to take the smallest one and try it. I will watch and see how they do this morning.

All 7 juveniles are doing fine and I am waiting for their colors to come in. They are eating egg food, kelp, oyster shells, grated mineral block & cuttle bone, greens and two kinds of seed. They really eat a lot of the oyster shells which I offer in a seperate seed cup. Once they have all their colors I will post their pictures.