February 2011.

These Galahs got caught in a heavy downpour of rain last week. They were waiting for me to put some seed out on the feeder, and they looked so miserable, perched on the gum tree branch.


Our breeding program last year in the aviaries was only moderately successful. The quails have had half a dozen clutches of eggs, with one or more hatchings each time, but the babies have only survived for a week or so, then we find them dead. I think there is too much competition in the aviary; there are about 20 finches and 3 young canaries, and although the quails live on the ground, the finches feed on the floor of the aviary as well as from their seed bowls above, so it gets a bit crowded at times.

The three young budgies that hatched last year are all doing well, and there are more eggs in the nesting boxes now, so we may have more babies in there soon. The canaries have had mixed results. The breeding female has laid several clutches with only two babies surviving to maturity. She has two more babies now, so we are hoping they will survive.

The Gouldian Finches are delightful to watch. I persuaded Ken to put them all in one aviary (he had the young ones separated from their parents), and they are all getting along just fine. In fact there are eggs in both nest boxes, so we may have even more young ones soon! This photo shows the four males and two females in their aviary, and there are 3 more immature Gouldians still in the other finch aviary. They will join their flock when they colour up later this year.