Pintail whydah female

The common waxbill being the primary host and the orange-breasted waxbill being the secondary host. The Pin-tailed Whydah female will lay 3 to 4 eggs in the host's nest.

When the chicks hatch, they mimic the gape pattern of the host fledging. Pin-tailed Whydah Behaviour The male Pin-tailed Whydah is very aggressive and will chase other males out of his territory during the breeding season. This species has been introduced in Hawaii, but without great success. However, the species is present in Puerto Rico.

They forage is small groups with one long-tailed male and several females, and non-breeding youngs. This bird forages on the ground by moving jerkily backwards on tarsi, and pecking quickly at disturbed ground. It often drinks at roadside pools. The male is often perched on telephone wires and fences. More conspicuous than female, it is more visible and often observed. The male may be very aggressive and chase other birds while it is displaying.

The male performs superb courtship displays during which the spectacular long tail plays an important role. It performs an aerial mating dance with hovering flight above the female during which the tail is flicked up and down while it sings continuously.

Surprise Me. Previous Black-faced Firefinch. Next Sahel Paradise-Whydah. Robert B. Payne Version: 1. Sign in to see your badges. Catalogue Ois. Dense shrubs, tall seeding grasses, and miniature bamboo are all good plant choices. Plants should be kept trimmed some to waist-height so that birds can fly overhead. For the whydah hen to successfully smuggle her eggs into the host nests, the nests should be well-shielded from view. Therefore, provide the host colony with suspended baskets of dried brush on the sheltered walls of the aviary, as well as soft dry grasses and soft white feathers for nesting material.

The Host Colony At least 10 pairs of "naive" not previously used for whydah parasitism common waxbills should be selected. The waxbills should be separated by sex until the whydahs are in nuptual plumage and breeding is ready to commence. The Whydahs Viduine finches do not appear to breed before their second year of life.

Birds aged years tend to breed most successfully. Although they are polygamous in the wild, captive breeding is most successful when only a single pair of whydahs is housed per enclosure. The pair should both be in peak breeding condition, evidenced by changing into full nuptual coloration hen with dark beak, cock with fully-elongated tail , before breeding can be expected.

Timing of the Introduction Once the whydah pair is in nuptual plumage, release the whydah pair and half of the common waxbill pairs into the enclosure. About a week later, release the other half of the waxbill pairs. This staggered approach will give the whydah hen a larger window of opportunity in which to deposit her eggs.

Additional Recommendations A copious and constant supply of live food should be made available for best results.

Once the chicks are weaned at 4 weeks of age , all juveniles should be removed from the breeding enclosure to prevent overcrowding and to prevent the male Pin-tailed Whydah from attacking the young. Presumed Life Cycle Clutch size: Incubation: Done by the host Hatch date: After days of incubation Fledge date: At 20 days of age Wean date: 14 days after fledging Related Article s If you own this species and would like to write an article about your experiences with them for this page, please submit your article for possible inclusion on this site.

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