Finnie

Wow, everybody, thank you! You have confirmed that I was right to be confused. Well, GB, I think we can safely say she is not clearwing. The tail you thought was blue, is really quite grey. Well, it starts out blue near the rump, and goes grey further down. I know exactly what you meant about pictures! What RIP says about the throat spots and clearly defined markings makes sense, too. My confusion always came in because when I bought her, before she moulted, I thought she was a pretty pale bird with pearly white wings, and then she turned into a dark blue/purple bird with dark grey wings, but in some lights when I look at her from a distance, the wings still look very pale in comparison to the body. Exactly like the picture that GB said "clearwing". So I guess she must be greywing, or full body color greywing. Unfortunately, GB, that dom pied was my Nigel who died in July. I can't compare them, and I didn't get to see him go through a moult- his 1st was over when I got him. I think, if I remember correctly, that his tail was all white. Also, his body was such a lovely pale blue, that I was tempted to label him "dilute". I suppose I could look for more pics of him, just for educational purposes. It would pretty much be on topic here.

Woops, forgot to check back to see what your advice was. (A little distracted by a problem I have with my 13.5 year old dog.) So when I checked at about 8:30 pm, it looks like it had a tiny bit of food in it's crop, still, or again. (I can't tell, but maybe it had fed and digested and was ready for the next feed.) I had the hand rearing formula out and was reading about how to mix it, in case it was necessary, but I decided not to interfere yet. In about an hour from now, I will be doing the morning check, and if it doesn't have a nice full crop like it's older siblings, then I will definitely be taking things into my own hands. This is not a good picture, but there is Youngest on the right: I also decided to put the leg ring on Oldest last night, since he is 5 days old now. I'm glad I didn't wait longer, because I had some difficulty with it. (Probably due to my inexperience more than his size.) I had to be a little bit rough, because my first dainty efforts just weren't going to get anything through that ring! So I grasped his tiny leg a little firmer, and shoved the ring over his two toes, and then carefully moved my grip to the ends of the toes, and tugged them through, all the while repeating in my head "They are strong and made of rubber, they are strong and made of rubber..." I'm sure I didn't hurt him, I would have been afraid to be too rough! I was also afraid of dropping him, so I was leaning with my hands over the nest box the whole time, just in case. (Fortunately, this make-shift box has a hinged lid that folds back, so this was possible.) My other boxes have the half walls in back that slide up, so I'm not sure how I will manage with them. Plus they are higher up, and awkward to get to. I think when it's time to ring those babies, I will have to carry them over to a safe work surface to do it. Since he was so big, I decided to try ringing Number Two, just in case. Ring went on way too easy, and of course, fell off as soon as he was back in the box. I also noticed Colleen fretting with the ring on Number One, so I hope she doesn't hurt him. And I hope she doesn't remove the ring overnight! My rings are just plastic split rings numbered 1-20. And they came with a little tool that can spread the slit apart widely, so that it can be placed around the leg of an older bird and then released. Probably requires 8 arms to manage that maneuver! (As an aside, about my dog. We did some serious thinking yesterday and decided it was time for her final vet appointment. That appointment is this morning at 11:30. And of course, ever since, I have been second-guessing that decision, and dreading the moment when I know it will be too late to change my mind.)

Well, after checking on them this morning, I'm still not convinced she has fed the 3rd baby. Or maybe she did, and the crop has just re-emptied itself. I think I saw a tiny bit of yellow bulge there. (The older two are well-fed, as Kaz pointed out. I just assumed she would do the same with this one.) I am prepared to hand feed it, if it still looks unfed when I check tonight. Unless I get advice that I should be checking on it sooner.

WHAT!!! hehe... they sound really pretty!!! LOVE the names too... Your nutty hen is still at it. I give her points for comitment and do hope they hatch. Right after I typed this she laid #7! :fear It may not be the perfect set-up, but maybe she will do fine. At least you can sneak a peak at the progress any time of day without disturbing her!

It would be nice if it turns out to be a cock, wouldn't it? Good luck with all those fosters! :fear

Hi Clearwing! I've read the name "Geoff" on here before, and it is always used with respect and awe. Hmmm... Well, everyone seems so excited to get your input, that I have decided to kill two birds with one stone... (um, am I allowed to say that here?) Anyway, I'm working on posting all my birds for color/ mutation i.d., so I will start with Finnie. Please click here . Again, welcome, it's great to have you here!

I never really cared what type of dilution gene Finnie had, I just knew she was beautiful. But one time Shannon Birdbreeder had a pretty clearwing that reminded me of Finnie, so I decided to label her as clearwing. If not, then she's probably Full Body Clearwing, since her body color seems so bright. And I'm pretty sure she's violet, although a lot of times her photos appear cobalt. But people who visit me always ask about the "purple" one, so I figure I'm not too far off. So to welcome our new member Clearwing, I will go to photbucket and pull out as many good photos of Finnie as I can find, and we will have our first try at picking his brains! Pay no attention to the opaline cock trying to stare you down :fear These two are the only ones I have that show her tail. So, can we make any verdicts based on these pics?

Can't wait to see pictures!! I love spangles, and they both sound so pretty!

You have been given lots to chew on. I just wanted to add, that if you want to avoid buying yet another cage, you could house someone in with your "English" budgie, Pudgie. 2 females will often get along just fine, so you could try it. Or, if Skylar is laying infertile eggs that you already throw away, you could put Axel in with her, and still throw away any new eggs. Maybe with no nest box, they will not breed, after all. Or, Axel could go with Pudgie. Again, with no nest box, maybe there will be no breeding. It's just a thought. Maybe you want an extra cage, anyway :fear In which case, pet stores usually have poor choices as far as size for budgies and bar spacing. Here is a link to one I ordered online and am very happy with. They do sell the same cage in their store, but it is usually available for cheaper (even with Postage) online. Dome Habitat (Wow, it is even cheaper this year than it was when I got mine, and shipping is free right now!! I wonder if my husband would be mad if I bought myself an unneccesary cage?) Oh, and before I forget, Welcome!!

Oh, I get it! I took this to mean the mother was a cinnamon winged hen! Oops So since the father is /cinnamon, you can get normal eye babies from him. But the green is the way you are telling with this foster. If I have to foster, I will have to keep careful track of who is who, because I won't be able to go by mutations

I totally agree! I once picked a pet budgie for it's cute looks, but i should have picked the one who was nibbling on my son's finger, as the "cute" one was the most terrified creature i'd ever seen, she'd just about have a heart attack whenever anyone came near her cage- it took AGES to tame her!! This is EXACTLY what I did, too. The "friendly" one kept getting between me and the "pretty" one, and poking his beak out of the bars, as if to say "pick me!" At home with the pretty one, I discovered that he was the most freaked out paranoid bird ever. It turned out okay, cuz I went back later and got the friendly one, too, and am having the most fun ever, because he likes me so much! :fear (Oh, and he's gorgeous, to boot!)

I got your joke, Radien. (The original expression was "There's gold in them thar hills." Pertaining to the gold rush, I think) P.S. How did you manage to teach him the head scratch thing. I've really been wanting to teach that to my boy, Kevin.

That's a nice shot of her back. She its pretty too, but her daughter is to die for! By the way, here is a question for any pied experts. Since this mother hen is dom/rec pied, but she looks kind of like df dom pied, would those cinnamon markings that are further down her secondary flights (or coverts?) be the indicator of the /rec pied? (Hope that made sense.)

We are in the same time zone :fear I am from Michigan, and am used to a lot more snow than we get here in Indiana. I always think, "If we're going to have yucky cold winter, we may as well have the snow to go with it." In fact, just before we moved here, I had taken up cross country skiing, which was fun, and I was looking forward to doing it each year. But here we barely get any snow, and it melts before you can get any good trails packed. I think I saw pictures of your old husky out in the snow, before.

It snowed all day yesterday, and looks even prettier now. I love this stage. It's the late February-dirty-slushy stage I could live without! :emoticon112: Elly, my kids are on 2 hour delay today. How are the roads near you? My family is just above you in Detroit! My brother has a snow removal/lawn mowing business, so this is good for him. Yeah, that's why I can't have an outside aviary. (Only in summer, but then they'd have to move back in, so I don't plan to provide them with double accomodations. ) It's always been my dream to have a dog kennel. If I ever got to build one, I would put an indoor/outdoor aviary in a corner of it. I have read that given a choice, budgies love to go outside and play in the snow, as long as they can go back into the warmth when they're done. Would be cool to see. But alas, we have 2 kids in college right now, hubby working on MBA and 3 younger kids getting closer to college every year! For now I get to do budgies instead of dogs cuz they are smaller and cheaper!

Believe it or not, the other day I was bored. So I set out writing a post about what colors I expect from these pairs. It took me a long time. (Cuz I think too much and re-do it over and over :emoticon112: ) I hit the Add Reply button, and then! Internet Connection Problem!! The whole post was gone!! Vanished into thin air Later on I will try again, only finding some way to sum it up briefly. Anyway, last night's udate: (Jan 7) Third Chickie arrived right on schedule It's neck and crop were skinny and empty, so I'll be checking this morning to make sure Colleen has fed it. I'm not worried. She seems to be a good mother. Whenever I go check, she tries to cover them all up with her wings, and tucks them under her with her beak. To get a picture, I usually have to physically hold her against the opposite side of the box, snap the shot, let her go, and she's right back on, tucking them under again. I'm glad she cares.

It's a lovely snowy day here. We're supposed to get about 6" in the next day or two. I wouldn't be surprised if they send the kids home from school early. There were a lot of school closings reported this morning in other areas. However, not nearly as bad as I hear they've been getting in New England! Something like 33 inches in Vermont and over 3 feet in parts of New York state! My front yard today:

Oops. I started reading posts while I waited for my new pics to upload to Photobucket, and I forgot to go back! So here is last night's update: Finnie now has 9 eggs! Phoebe is holding at 5, so I wonder if that's it for her. That could make her available for fostering. But she and Bailey are the ones whose chicks were supposed to help me unravel their genetics, so why couldn't SHE have been the one with nine! Murphy's law, I guess. I was trying to look at the colors of these eggs to guess fertility, but I think that the doors to the nest boxes cause shadows. In a lot of my pictures, the eggs at the top look whiter than the ones at the bottom. But then, so do the nesting materials. Plus the differences are so subtle, that I think I'm going to give up trying to figure it out and just wait to see what hatches. (I do, however, think the one with the smiley face is fertile! )

As far as I can tell, there is only one club here. It is for all caged bird species, not just budgies. And I don't think there are any "shows" like you guys have, just what they call "bird fairs" where they have a lot of vendors' tables set up and also breeders have tables with cages of their various babies/adults for sale. The club here holds 3 of these per year, and some of the breeders I have found will use this as a way to stock up on their seed in bulk for the year. (With more birds, I am considering doing this, too.) I've been to the American Budgerigar Society website, and it is obvious that there is a serious side to the fancy in the U.S. But I just don't think it finds it's way to the more northern states. Indiana Budgerigar Society 3170 898-8394 317-359-5341 Man, you are good! Amateur super sleuth :cake: Well, since you did the leg-work, I'll make the call! :hb: (I fear we are getting a little off topic here. :hap: ) This whole topic has slid off topic :hb: :rofl:

Well, I've gone a little overboard, buying my budgies toys and perches, so I have an excess. Therefore, every time I do a full cage clean, I rearrange everything 100%. That used to be every 2 weeks or so. Now I'm a little lazier, and it's about once a month or less. They always do seem a little confused when I first put them back in, but within seconds, they are playing or eating. With Nibbles being 3 1/2 and not used to it, you might want to start with just moving the same stuff around a little, and then later replacing some of it with new things. I'm sure he'll know it's still his same cage, and still in the same room where his normal view is familiar.

As far as I can tell, there is only one club here. It is for all caged bird species, not just budgies. And I don't think there are any "shows" like you guys have, just what they call "bird fairs" where they have a lot of vendors' tables set up and also breeders have tables with cages of their various babies/adults for sale. The club here holds 3 of these per year, and some of the breeders I have found will use this as a way to stock up on their seed in bulk for the year. (With more birds, I am considering doing this, too.) I've been to the American Budgerigar Society website, and it is obvious that there is a serious side to the fancy in the U.S. But I just don't think it finds it's way to the more northern states. Indiana Budgerigar Society 3170 898-8394 317-359-5341 Man, you are good! Amateur super sleuth :cake: Well, since you did the leg-work, I'll make the call! :hb: (I fear we are getting a little off topic here. :hb: )

First of all, I want to say he is extremely gorgeous! I love those beautiful markings on his back! Second of all, I'm a little confused. To be opaline, the dad would have to be split to opaline. (Because he's obviously normal to look at, right?) So that means the chick is a girl. Unless the mother is opaline, then it could be a boy. Not seeing the mom's back, I guess she could be opaline. So, Anne, is she, or isn't she? (Cuz I think the baby looks kind of like a boy. But maybe with a hint of white on cere? -I can't tell)

As far as I can tell, there is only one club here. It is for all caged bird species, not just budgies. And I don't think there are any "shows" like you guys have, just what they call "bird fairs" where they have a lot of vendors' tables set up and also breeders have tables with cages of their various babies/adults for sale. The club here holds 3 of these per year, and some of the breeders I have found will use this as a way to stock up on their seed in bulk for the year. (With more birds, I am considering doing this, too.) I've been to the American Budgerigar Society website, and it is obvious that there is a serious side to the fancy in the U.S. But I just don't think it finds it's way to the more northern states. Indiana Budgerigar Society 3170 898-8394 317-359-5341 Man, you are good!

I agree with Maesie, about needing better pictures. But I will say, upon seeing the 1st picture you thought was hen, I wasn't convinced. The 2nd picture of same bird looks male to me. So you can see that a different angle or lighting can make a difference. If you can get more pics, try for 2 or more of each bird, so we can see different points of view. I also agree with Anne. If you're just going to have one bird, hens are good. It's when you start adding more birds, that group dynamics comes into play. (Watch how the birds act, and pick the one that pulls at your heart most.) Oh, I thought of one more thing. If you have to choose between two favorites, go for personality over looks. After you have it home for a while, you will love it's looks, anyway, but you don't want to be saying, "man, I should have picked the friendlier one!" :cake:

Pebbles, you must have moved the pics in your photobucket. Can you re-post them? The others have said she's beautiful, but I can't see her. :cake: Thanks