![]() This was the last chick to emerge and probably didn’t get fed enough. Unfortunately one chick died within a week. In the meantime, this same pair of Black Cheeks sat tightly on another clutch of eggs and four nestlings emerged on day twenty-two. Two eggs out of four hatched from the second clutch under a pair of societies that were virgins. ![]() None the less these societies fed them well and all four were successfully fledged. I soon found out one reason that this species seldom is fed by societies – they beg very weakly and do not pursue the fosters with nearly as much vigor as a society, owl or gouldian would. The societies kept them fed and they came out of the nest at about twenty-one days. Soon I had four chicks hatch from the first clutch of four eggs. By chopping up mealworms on top of the mixture it prevents the mealworms from crawling away as well as making it more appealing to the fosters as a nestling food item. In the wild most waxbills feed nothing but fresh insects for the first week or so. This way when the chicks hatch, the fosters feed the food item with the heaviest concentration of protein first. When hatching day came I started giving the foster parents my eggfood mixture with about twenty-five large mealworms cut up on top of it. Purple Grenadier chicks are born very dark and they don’t beg very loudly so I figured if anyone would raise Black Cheeks these fosters would. ![]() I took two clutches of fertile eggs from pair two and placed them under societies that had only fostered Purple Grenadiers (uraeginthus ianthinogaster). I really feel that this species needs to feel secluded and hidden to feel comfortable enough to reproduce. ![]() This was probably due to too much competition for nest sites, food, etc. The third pair (in the large outdoor aviary) was unsuccessful for the third year in a row. The first pair (outside on my deck) also built a cock nest on top of the nest basket. They have a peculiar habit of weaving the grasses so as to form a four to six inch entrance tube leading into the nest. The first two pairs of Black Cheeks stuffed great quantities of switchgrass into large wicker nest baskets. There were about twelve other finch pairs of mixed species in this flight. The third pair was released into a 30 foot long by 8 foot high by 15 food deep outdoor planted flight. The second pair was set up again in the cage first described in this article but with only one variegated schefflera and plenty of switchgrass. They use it for cover, for display material, as nesting grass and for the value of the seed as a conditioning food. Most of my finches shun the nest baskets and boxes and weave their own nests within the switchgrass thicket. I cut off the top one foot of seed heads and dry the clump out for about three days before tying into a bundle. It’s a grassy clump that grows to about 2 to 3 feet tall then sends out an “umbrella” of fine tiny seeds. Switchgrass is a native American perennial. I firmly believe that if I have any “secret” to breeding exotic finches – switchgrass is it. Up against the sides all along the upper corners of the cage I tied small bungles of switchgrass (panacium vergatum). I also placed two variegated schefflera on opposite ends of the flight for cover. This cage had a black soil floor that I covered with bird seed a week or so before the birds were introduced so as to give them places to “hunt” in. They never did – I shuffled them into the owl finch foster program with which I am happy to report they are all doing well!ĭuring the summer of ’97, I set up one pair of Black Cheeks in a 40″ long by 36″ high by 36″ deep cage outside on my deck. I let the same three pairs of societies attempt to foster every time figuring that they would eventually get it right. It seemed to me that their crops were empty most of the time. Time and time again the same thing happened – babies hatched, fosters fed for one to five days, then chicks died. From about the summer of ’95 to July of ’97, I pulled ten to fifteen fertile clutches of Black Cheek eggs that hatched under societies. I soon found that about the only time I could get them to lay fertile eggs was during the summer months and then generally only from pairs that were in outdoor cages. That way when chicks hatch underneath them instinctively they go “babies – I’ll feed them!” If they have raised any other chicks they might go “babies – why you’re not like the other babies I’ve raised, you must be defective so I’ll let you starve.” After setting up two pair of virgin societies and supplying them with Black Cheek eggs I waited for them to hatch…and waited…and waited… You guessed it – infertile eggs. Now, whenever I try fostering with a species new to me I always use virgin societies for fosters.
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