I’ve yet to meet a bird hobbyist when given the chance that wouldn’t jump on the opportunity to visit fellow aviculturists. With a trip pending to the northeast I got in touch with a friend of mine Steve Heller to see if he would be receptive to a visit. Steve and his wife Asta were more than receptive and not only spent a good part of the day sharing their home and aviaries with me but spent the wee hours of the night taking me to visit two other fellow aviculturists and their aviaries. I wholeheartedly thank all of them for opening their home and aviaries to myself and the NFSS membership.
Steve Heller focuses on the Red Face Parrot Finch. For those of you parrot finch fans out there you would have been right at home surrounded by multiple pairs of red faces. At the time of my visit there was also a new addition to the aviaries – a nesting pair of Forbes parrot finches. My first opportunity to see these little fellows in person and the pair that I saw at Steve’s were just breathtaking.
Since they have not shown great interest in eggfood, either dry or moist he is hesitant that the pair will feed at all. He has recently tried mixing the eggfood with their sprouts and has found that they are now more receptive to the eggfood. “So if I’ve tricked them, maybe they’ll have sufficient protein in their diet to feed their own young.” Steve stated. He also mentioned that they readily accepted white worms.
Aviary #2 is located in the basement of Steve’s home and measures 7 feet wide by 7 feet tall by 4 feet deep. Two verelux 40 watt full spectrum bulbs light the aviary for fifteen hours daily. Temps range from a low of sixty (before the heat is turned on) to a high of 85 degrees. Humidity runs about 50% with a high of 65% during the summer months and a low of 26% in the winter. Steve’s plan for the winter is to supplement with an evaporative humidifier to increase humidity levels.
A curious thing I discovered while visiting the northeast was the use of cardboard nestboxes. All three individuals I visited used them. And from the looks of them at Steve’s they were well received by the parrot finches.
Also housed in the basement birdroom were a few pair of society finches in safeguard cages measuring 3x2x2. Steve conveyed to me that in his experience housing the red faces in this size cage was not successful.
Due to the mildness of the weather in September in New York we were able to spend a considerable amount of time outside. Steve’s wife Asta served an authentic New York style lunch and myself being raised in the northeast and currently residing in the south my mouth watered over the feast.
Aviary #3 is located outside in Steve’s backyard adjacent to the swimming pool. It is a large outdoor aviary measuring 7.5 feet tall x 12 feet long x 8 feet wide.
The surprising thing to me was the calmness of the red faces housed in this outdoor aviary. While there, Steve fed some wild dandelion leaves, flowers, and the red faces eagerly crowded around the treat totally oblivious to our presence so close by. I could practically reach out and touch them!
The roof of the aviary was covered with hard plastic sheeting that protected the inhabitants from wild bird droppings and adverse weather conditions. And, because the aviary was open on three sides you had excellent opportunities to view the birds whether you were lounging in the pool, sitting on the deck or resting on the patio. Like any birdkeeper the afternoon was spent talking diet, breeding, and maintenance. I even had the opportunity to thumb through Steve’s copy of Russell Kingston’s newest released book “Keeping and Breeding Finches and Seed-Eaters”.
Diet: Steve feeds a basic finch mix consisting of proso millet, German millet, canary and red millet. He uses crushed oyster shell and no grit. Cuttlebone is also provided. To bring the birds into breeding condition Steve serves eggfood both dry and moist (hardboiled egg added). To the eggfood mixture he adds a powdered mineral product from Belgium, a touch of spirulina and Prime vitamins. This is kept refrigerated. And on occasion he also scraps cuttlebone into the mixture. Greens during the warm months consist of wild dandelion leaves and flowers. If dandelion is not obtainable (i.e. winter months) both chicory and romaine lettuce are substituted. Throughout the entire year half-ripe wild seed is provided. And lastly, sprouted seed is provided daily to bring the birds into breeding condition or during the breeding season itself.
Colony System: Steve has used the colony system for breeding his red faces. The two colonies each consist of three breeding pairs. One colony has proved successful but the other has produced only one clutch of offspring. Steve attributes the lack of breeding success with one colony due to the “incompatibility of the pairs”. Perhaps if the birds have chosen their mates before the colony was set up success rates might have been higher.”
Steve conveyed the most important aspect of colony breeding is the “Integrity of the pairs. A male from one pair sometimes wouldn’t hesitate to mate with a female of another pair if the conditions are right. However, provided the enclosure is spacious enough and pairs are nicely bonded, most males will mind their own business.”
I hope you found the above visit as interesting as I did. I found out I wasn’t the only one who kept the best veggies in the refrigerator for bird consumption only. I wasn’t the only one whose flower garden had become a growing place for wild grasses to feed the birds. And I wasn’t the only one who wanted to check their “finch-lovers email” just one last time before we headed out.
I encourage any NFSS member interested in learning more to contact Steve Heller directly. He would be more than happy to share his experiences. He can be reached via email at: sheller@nassau.cv.net
