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This is another article written by Sean Fitzpatrick.

 

 

 

Breeding the Bramblefinch

 

 

By Sean Fitzpatrick.

 

 

 

 

My initial interest in Bramblefinches was sparked when I was given a particularly nice cock bird. This bird displayed all the attributes required in a Bramblefinch of exhibition quality and this spurred me on to try and breed this species.

I acquired a hen bird as a prospective partner for the cock and awaited the onset of spring. An aviary measuring 6’X4’X6’ was prepared for the birds. The floor was concrete, covered in a litter of dried grass cuttings to provide insulation and also it could be used by the birds as nesting material. The back and two sides of the aviary was solid plywood with the front and top being covered with wire. The top of the aviary was also covered with plastic sheets to prevent cross contamination from wild birds and keep the environment dry. Drinking/bathing water was made available in shallow dishes approx’ eight inches in diameter while the various feed stuffs were placed in dishes contained within a large cat litter tray. Using a cat litter tray to hold the food dishes prevents stale food from being scattered about the aviary floor and bearing in mind that Bramble’s are insectivorous when feeding chicks, it also prevents valuable livefood from escaping too far.

Nesting sites were placed in various positions around the flight with a minimum of cover to allow the birds some seclusion. Wicker baskets, plastic canary pans and shallow wooden nest pans were secured in place to afford the birds a choice of nesting receptacles.

The Bramblefinch pair was introduced into the aviary, and each other, at the beginning of March. Their initial bewilderment was evident in the way they explored their new home while at the same time calling to each other repeatedly. In a very short time they had settled down and started to feed on the British finch seed mix in the feed pots as well as sampling the egg-food prepared with grated boiled egg. They also wasted little time before saturating themselves in the water dish. Brambles have a reputation for being aggressive but fortunately the pair got on very well in each other’s company.

 

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The fact that this species are semi insectivorous in the breeding season led me to suspect that by feeding mealworms early in the spring, I could accelerate their transition into breeding condition. Through experimentation, I have subsequently satisfied myself that this theory is correct.

During late April, early May, the birds beaks turned progressively from a horn colour to liquorice black, this was more evident in the cock. At the same time the cock was seen displaying to the hen in a sort of elaborate dance, with wings dropped, head held back and crest raised. The hen started to respond to these advances by holding the dry grass cuttings in her beak. On observing these antics, I provided additional nesting material in the form of coconut fibre, kapok, moss and short lengths of horsehair. Nest building began in late May with the hen choosing a wicker basket placed high in the flight as her preferred site. By the end of the first week of June the hen was incubating a clutch of six eggs and I eagerly awaited the arrival of the chicks. I was gutted when on inspection the eggs proved to be infertile. A subsequent clutch was laid with the same result. I concluded that for whatever reasons the cock was sterile and this proved to be fact, as he never did fertilise any eggs for me in the time I kept him.

Despite the Brambles failure to produce young I was not deterred and set about planning for better things in subsequent years. Armed with a little more experience, I set my stall out for the following season. Having made the decision to persevere with this species, I set about obtaining further stock to enhance the chances of success. Eventually my tally of Bramblefinches reached twelve birds, forming four trios. The decision to start the season with trios rather than pairs was made after reading up on data for wild Brambles. In the wild state, Brambles have a tendency to breed in a loose colony system. With this in mind I started with trios for two reasons, the first being that I wondered if the birds would stimulate one another and also, starting with trios doubled the chances of success in each of the aviaries. It was always my intention to remove one of the hens from each trio as the other started nest building.

The next season, the birds were once again introduced into the aviaries during March after the worst of the frosts were over. Despite the lack of success from the previous season, the experience had left me confident that my management of the birds in the lead up to the breeding season had been appropriate and I could see no reason to alter things too much. The facilities offered to the birds were mainly consistent with those from the previous year and all four trios were put out into their aviaries at the same time. This meant that any records compiled during the breeding season could be kept comparatively accurate and comparisons between the four trios would not be influenced by differences in introduction dates.

One of the few changes I made to the management regime was to introduce more of the larger variety of seeds into the general mix. These included safflower, sunflower hearts, buckwheat, hemp, pine seed and peeled oats in equal parts forming 50% of the mix. The other 50% consisted of British finch seed mix. Bramblefinches appear to like the larger seeds and eat them first.

For a number of years I have added Aviform Ultimate, a multi-vitamin supplement formulated for pigeons, to my birds drinking water. Opinions differ on the use of such additives and while some fanciers question the need for them, I feel happier knowing that my own birds are not missing out on any of their vitamin requirements. Incidentally, the supplements I use on my birds are, with few exceptions, those intended for use in pigeons. My reasoning for this is that I firmly believe that more research is carried out on pigeon nutrition/health products than on cage bird equivalents. As birds drink in relation to their body mass pro-rata, there is no need to alter the recommended dosage when administering the products to cage birds.

 

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Once again, by the end of April the birds were attaining breeding condition and the hens in each of the trios were establishing their dominance over one another. When I became sure that one of the hens was ready to build a nest the other hen was removed and placed in another flight. Each of the four cocks had their unique personality and habits and this dictated the way in which each of the pairs had to be managed. In all four of the aviaries, by the first week in June, a hen was incubating her clutch of eggs. In one aviary the cock had to be removed as soon as the hen started sitting due to his incessant aggression towards her. This turned out to provide a bonus, as I was able to put him in with the other hen that I’d removed from his aviary a few days earlier and she in turn laid a clutch of eggs. With five hens sitting eggs simultaneously, I kept a close eye on the cock birds. Strangely the most aggressive cock bird was most tolerant of his new hen while another of the cocks had to be removed from the flight half way through incubation, having developed a habit of pulling the nesting material from under the hen.
Twelve days after the first hen started sitting, eggshells appeared on the aviary floor. At this point I began to offer her mini mealworms ad-lib to ensure that her hungry brood had a constant supply of essential protein. The fact that the mealworms were disappearing at an alarming rate suggested that all was going well and when after three days, I eventually decided to inspect the contents of the nest I was amazed to discover six healthy, well-developed youngsters that were much more advanced than I had expected. At this stage I introduced wax-moth larvae to the diet and these also disappeared very quickly. On the same day two more of the hens hatched young with two more clutches hatching on subsequent days. With five broods of hungry Bramblefinch chicks being reared, I was a regular visitor to my live food supplier.
In three of the aviaries the cock birds proved to be very good parents, making regular visits to the nest to feed their offspring.
The first nest of youngsters was ringed at six days of age with size ‘D’ rings and with a smear of vegetable oil applied to the chick’s foot; I was just able to slide them on. I ring my chicks just before dusk so that they can settle down in the nest after the last feed and the hen doesn’t pay so much attention. As I soon discovered, Bramble chicks develop at a rapid rate and often fledge, well developed, before they reach two weeks of age. When entering an aviary containing fledglings I was scolded and mobbed by the parents until I beat my retreat. The parents continued to feed the youngsters until they were able to feed themselves at about twenty-five days of age.

Two of the pairs made attempts at a second round but both these failed and since then I have only once had Brambles produce a successful second round. This may be due to the short summers in their wild breeding grounds of northern Europe, where the shortening daylight hours do not allow for subsequent rounds. This didn’t disappoint me too much as with fifteen youngsters on the sticks I had achieved my goal of breeding Bramblefinches. My adult birds seemed to commence moulting as soon as their young were independent and similarly the young themselves seem to start moulting into adult plumage almost before they have finished growing their nest feathers. In either instance the moult is rapid compared with other birds. Again this is perhaps due to the short summers in their wild habitat where they must be ready to migrate away from the impending arctic conditions. I have tried colour-feeding Brambles but am not sure if the difference in colour warrants it.

 

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There are always exceptions to rules and over the years I have witnessed a number of these exceptions. While on occasion I have managed to breed Bramblefinches in cages, this did not lessen my amazement when while visiting a friend in Lincolnshire he showed me to his bird-room (situated upstairs in a bedroom), where a pair of Brambles were busy rearing their four chicks in a three feet double breeding cage. The four chicks were sitting in a plastid canary nest pan on the side of the cage with no cover what so ever. While this was remarkable enough to say the least, my friend then produced a tub of wax moth larvae and proceeded to hand feed them to the adult Brambles through the cage bars. The adults then went to the youngsters and fed them the wax moth larvae at a distance of less than two feet from our faces. My friend who was a relatively raw novice seemed totally oblivious to the gravity of what we were witnessing. When I tried to explain to him just how unlikely the scenario was he shrugged his shoulders before showing me three young Bullfinches in another similar cage! I couldn’t get him to divulge his lottery numbers for that week. Never say never!

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