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| The cock bird will bring material to the nest and the hen spends the majority of the time in the nest "arranging". I have however found cock birds inside the nest making "adjustments" to its interior. | |||||||
| The hen will lay between 3-4 eggs and incubation commences usually after the 2nd or 3rd egg is laid. I have had no problems to date with egg binding in this species. Both cock and hen will share incubation and contrary to what I have read I have found both cock and hen sharing the nest at night. During resting times my Painteds prefer to settle on the floor of the flight or aviary in a corner at lights out. Hatching begins in 13 days after start of incubation. Normally one sometimes two chicks hatch per day. I am able to nest inspect without problems but limit it to checking total clutch size and determining hatch date. | 
Note diluted color of chest spotting on far left and far right birds. Both are hens. Mother in center. |
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| The chicks are pale skinned and absent of down. Aside from the beak, which in my first experience looked so foreign to me, they resemble a society in terms of the absence of any down on their bodies. The most interesting aspect of the young is their silence. There are no begging sounds emitted from the young during the first two weeks of rearing. For those who intend to foster Painteds this must be taken into consideration. However, my experience has not called for the need to foster out this species so I am unable to offer guidance in terms of acceptable foster parents. Mealworms are increased to 4 or so each 3x daily when there are young in the nest. Their interest in live food is moderate and not as voracious as one would experience with waxbills. My Painteds readily take to the eggfood mixture listed above and will feed this mixture combined with the mealworms to the young in the nest. Both cock and hen share in the raising of the clutch. As the chicks mature spray millet is added to the eggfood and live food fed to the young. The young will fledge at 23 days and I then band them with "C" size NFSS closed bands. They are extremely nervous in their new environment and are easily spooked. But do not fear. As the young mature the hobbyist will note the very calm nature of these birds. Next to the Parson finch I have found them most peaceful and trusting of their keeper. And they will reward you with this trust by going about their business with you sitting within inches of them. It is important to note that Painteds are not strong flyers. Not to say they will not use every inch of a flight that is provided. You will however not find them to fly stealthily from one side of the flight to the other as one would witness in parrot finches. Night frights are not uncommon. Bald tops on the head of juveniles can attest to that! A night light provided where Painteds are housed is most recommended! I have found the young to be extremely hardy upon fledging and have not noted any tendency for them to "expire" during molt as can be experienced with Gouldian Finches. My experience with the Painted Firetail has afforded me the ability to determine sex of offspring upon fledging. Hens have considerably duller white spots on the chest area, almost crème in color. Both fledglings pictured with their mother turned out to be hens. Cock birds upon fledging although lacking the red coloring on the face, and throat area have considerably brighter white spots on the chest area. I normally remove the fledglings from the parents right before hatching is to resume with the next clutch. The parents will allow the offspring back into the nest even when they have renewed their breeding and laying process. The young are then moved to a mixed community flight of other juveniles. I have successfully housed juvenile parsons, gouldians, and red and blue faced parrot finches with painted juveniles without problems. For those interested in showing the
Painted Firetail you could not pick a better candidate.
That is in terms of demeanor.
They are easily tamed and make excellent specimens in a show
cage. The only challenging
aspect to showing them resembles that of showing
parrot finches - feather condition.
In my opinion the very best time to show Painteds is right after
they have finished their adult molt.
Their feather condition is unsurpassed during that time period.
Occasional pin feathers and lack of "tight" feathering
present on adult birds can prove more challenging for those interested
in exhibiting them. My
experience has also shown, contrary to what I have read is that they are
avid bathers. No sooner do I introduce a fresh bowl of water, they are in
it. Frequent bathing will
greatly improve the feather quality for those interested in exhibiting
them. I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenges
of keeping the Painted Firetails and will continue to contribute to
their establishment in US aviculture.
Their personalities, beauty and bright coloring make them too
tempting to resist. Their
easy-going nature makes them excellent candidates for a mixed community
aviary. My experiences with their excellent parenting skills make them
all that much more enjoyable to keep.
I hope that more aviculturists give them the consideration that
is due them. Although, more
costly in my opinion they are worth each and every dime spent on them.
For
anyone with questions or requiring more information I am always
available to share my experiences with you.
You can reach me via email at: kerrimccoy@earthlink.net |
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| Page 1, 2, 3 | Copyright 2001 Kerri McCoy. | ||||||
