Perequito

Update...have now purchased that lovely little male (No. 2) & he is gorgeous...has beautiful violet rump! :) Thanks so much for excellent assistance!

Thank you SO much for your help, greatly appreciated!

Hi there, please may I have help to sex these pied birds I have 'on hold' till I get your advice?? Are either of these male?? Im looking for a male for future pairing with my violet hen, but thought maybe these are both female? (sorry I had to use the flash, I know it doesn't help) Pied No.1 Pied No.2 Pied No.2 Thank you so much for any help! )

This site is SO great for trying to improve our knowledge...please excuse my silly question, but am I right in thinking that if the white bird was an albino it would have the red eyes?

Awww that is SOOO cute!! lovely to get him on video - he's just adorable

Here are a couple my "action" pictures....just total luck!!!! Would love to see other folks' action shots as well

Thankyou :) Yes they do breed very well... the main problem I have is stopping them breeding to be honest. We used to have just a sand floor when we started the aviary about 14-15yrs ago, but when I took the nest boxes out to make sure they didn't have too many clutches, the hens would start digging holes in the ground to find somewhere to lay their eggs, so had to switch to concrete blocks with a little sand scattered over top to stop those tricks. One year we had a hen who went missing....I hunted high & low, knew she hadn't got out...finally found her under a big plastic feed shelter we had on the ground - she had dug herself a wee tunnel, complete with hollow at the end, & had squeezed herself in there to lay! We were blown away !!! No wonder they breed so well in the wild eh? Just wish I had taken some photos of that.

Thank you so very much Neville! Yes, sorry, just a small hobby colony aviary only - just for the sheer love of it. Obviously been some happy socialising going on, as with natural habitat..."we're all friends here"! Serves me right for having a colony aviary eh! Anyway, I do sincerely appreciate your time & expertise. Many thanks again )

Hi there, Im sorting out my youngsters trying to decide what to keep for possible pairing for future years. Am very limited to how many I keep so I'd really love to know the correct varieties I have below & what I could possibly expect. Chick 1 female Chick 2 female Chick 1 & 2's parents Chick 3 male - ? colour Chick 3's parents Chick 4 male - YF ? colour? Chick 4's parents May I have any thoughts please on what pairing possibilities would be with - Chick 1 to Chick 3 or Chick 4 Chick 2 to Chick 3 or 4 (I dont know if they are recessive or dominant) Could those pairings just produce a total hotchpotch mixture? Also, I really love spangles, so to that end, would it be better to try & find a nice strong coloured normal skyblue, cobalt or violet to pair with chick 3 spangle to keep nice strong wing markings? PS if anyone has the time, I would dearly love to have the hen (Chick 1 & 2's mother) properly categorised plus Chick 4's mum. Many many thanks in advance of any gratefully received input! Im so appreciative of the opportunity to learn from such experienced breeders. :ocheers!

Oh thank you so much for that! Very much appreciated indeed )

Hi there, may I please have some help to identify these two youngsters. Would love to know your thoughts & opinions. Also re the sex, I think they are maybe both hens???? Grateful thanks! )

Gorgeous pics! Our quails (just 1 male & 2 females in our aviary) have laid plenty of eggs but have come to nothing so far...have a new male so maybe infertile, or maybe just "warming up" Hahahahaha". Have successfully bred some in the past but did lose a couple of tiny "bumblebees" out through the small netting, even though we thought the gauge was small enough - so heartbreaking I think the rabbit hutch is a great idea! They do get on so well with the budgies & Bourkes too. (Lovely to see another kiwi gal on here....Im from Mid-Canterbury)

Oh my goodness I have just found this topic, & I am SO very very grateful to you Kaz! Why does it seem to happen to the lovely ones - so very sorry for you! We have had to deal with this on the odd occasion over the years, & other than some pretty brutal & callous advice, I have never found anyone brave enough to discuss other more humane options when you do not have quick access to a vet, & you just know their suffering must end immediately. Being brought up on a farm originally, we were well used to having to make humane decisions & "do the right thing" in the best interests of a desperately ill or injured animal, & it is wonderful to see someone with the courage to share this. This has always tormented me, so I can't tell you how much it means to us that you posted this. Sincere thanks to you.

Our two "adopted" cockateils were well-bonded brothers when we got them, & they are pretty much wrapped up in each other Hahahaha. They do make a nuisance of themselves sometimes with their obsession with " those fascinating little nest boxes that we just cant quite squeeze into!!" In their half of the aviary we now keep them out of the main house by keeping the doors shut & making the entry holes too small for them - however as our Bourke/Turq numbers have increased we've had to put a couple of nest boxes in the flight, & the cockateils just cant resist trying to gnaw their way into those. As far as fighting goes, they pretty much only scrap with each other, & they can be quite aggressive with each other at times. They only have an occasional minor skirmish with the other species, but the smaller birds more than hold their own in those confrontations. I think it has more to do with each birds personality myself - some are just nice natured & some are born stroppy, as with the human species We used to keep the cockateils in with the budgies, & that worked just fine, until one of the cockateils really sort of....well... "fell in love" with one particular male budgie in a very obsessive manner, & that caused utter mayhem - jealous fighting all round! Hence they got moved in with the grass parakeets & peace was restored. Bit like a soap opera isn't it really?!!

Thanks for the lovely comments... Yes we built it ourselves a number of years ago - my husband is a carpenter so he welded all the pipe framework & made the lovely shelters which house the nest boxes, & we laced on the wire netting until our fingers were almost raw Hahahaha. We sometimes have 15-20cm of snow on the roof of the aviary during a harsh winter, & it amazes us how tough these little guys are! (last year we added some clear plastic blinds that we can roll up & down when it gets too freezing, which has worked really well.) After 12yrs or so we've discovered the hard way a few things that work well, & a some that certainly don't. We totally understand the drawbacks of the colony style aviary, but because it's hobby-status only, we still love keeping it as close to a natural type habitat as we can achieve in the space available; lots of fresh gum branches etc. I've learnt so much watching them rear their young, much as they would in the wild, gathering all the variety of different foods to feed their babies a balanced diet. Particularly love watching the parents pulling their fledglings wings & picking at their toes to get them to "launch off" & fly.....just hilarious! We are constantly resisting the urge to "build-on", so it does take some juggling around at times. Just love this site & searching for great ideas... we are currently re-thinking our drinking water arrangements as the Turks & Bourkes are little ratbags at washing their bums as soon as you put the fresh water in - think they need bath water & drinking bottles too . We have to keep our nosy cockateils away from the nesting action, but if they get a chance to get through the door, this is the result!!!!

Hi there, thankyou...we have about a dozen Bourkes Parakeets, 2 pr of Turquoisines, 3 chinese quail, & a couple of adopted mature cockateil brothers who love to poke their beaks into everything! Funnily enough, we've always found that the cockateils will quickly back-down when faced with baby budgies just out of the nest, which looks hilarious! I really love this wonderful website with the most amazing helpful information, generously given by so many. Greatly appreciated!

Hi Everyone Finally having another attempt to post some of our aviary & bird photos from New Zealand.....so here goes!.............. Best wishes from Perequito

Sorry for causing confusion by being a thicko & typing message in the wrong place. :bump: Maybe I'd better stick to reading the great information until I figure out what goes where.

You Mexicans are all the same!Thanks for the welcome.Will find my way around soon enough and hope to be a regular. You Mexicans are all the same!Thanks for the welcome.Will find my way around soon enough and hope to be a regular.Whoops. Reply went to the wrong spot.Looks like I need to display my L platesHi anyway Perequito You Mexicans are all the same!Thanks for the welcome.Will find my way around soon enough and hope to be a regular. You Mexicans are all the same!Thanks for the welcome.Will find my way around soon enough and hope to be a regular.Whoops. Reply went to the wrong spot.Looks like I need to display my L platesHi anyway Perequitohahaha No worries! Im still having trouble figuring out where to put stuff too!

You Mexicans are all the same!Thanks for the welcome.Will find my way around soon enough and hope to be a regular. You Mexicans are all the same!Thanks for the welcome.Will find my way around soon enough and hope to be a regular.Whoops. Reply went to the wrong spot.Looks like I need to display my L platesHi anyway Perequito

Thanks guys! trying to get some decent pics...seems some of my newer ones are a bit camera shy!

Hi Everyone, Finally "plucked" up courage to join your amazing website & forum. I'm from Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand, & have been breeding birds for pleasure & enjoyment for approx 12 yrs. We just have a modest size 2-flight mixed aviary which I endeavour to keep as close to natural environment as possible. We currently have 5 breeding pairs of budgies & half a dozen sundry youngsters, 11 Bourkes, 2pr Turquoisines, 3 chinese quail, & a couple of older cockateil lads. Will post a picture sometime when I can figure out how to do that. I am so looking forward to being able to increase my knowledge & understanding of birds from all the experienced bird folk on this site :raincloud:

I read on an aviary website about recycling the empty seed husks into nestboxes to control the moisture. I've been using this method for the last two seasons with great success, still changing it every few days, depending on the number of chicks in the box = clean feet & much drier nest boxes. Drilling airholes certainly helped too. I'd be really concerned about using m.d.f. or chipboard, which swells & crumbles; builder says it is full of formaldehyde, resins, timber preservatives etc, so would imagine it wouldn't be good for hookbills.