 Sidebar Navigation
Recent edits
Stats
Our members have created a total of 126 articles in 17 categories.
A total of 141 edits have been made and our articles have been viewed 29555 times
|
|
THE RED SISKIN
|
|
|
THE RED SISKIN ( Carduelis cucullata )
Article one by Barry Levitt
The Red Siskin originates from remote areas of North Colombia and the northern half of Venezuela where the species is regarded as being highly endangered.
This rarity factor in the wild population has largely been brought about by past trapping of birds for the cage bird trade coupled with severe habitat losses.
Fortunately this species fares far better in captivity and due to the efforts of dedicated breeders there is no current shortage of good quality breeding stock.
DESCRIPTION
- cock Red siskin-
- hen red siskin-
The Red Siskin is a fairly small bird measuring between 4 - 5 inches in total length and it is the only siskin that has natural red coloured feathers.
There is a noticeable variation within the species in certain birds most notably is the depth of the red colour on males and also the shape of the males black hood.
Some birds have a small black V under their chin whereas with other birds the black head has a rounded boundary as the following two pictures show also in hens there tends to be a considerable variation in the intensity of the red on their chests.
According to the observations of birdwatchers in Venezuela there are two types of red siskins in the wild that may deviate by their size and colour.
Those birds in the eastern part of Venezuela tend to be larger , males averaging between 10.4 to 10.8 cm whereas others observed elsewhere in the country tend to be much smaller
Also the red colour of the smaller birds tends to have a bronze tinge… based on their observations the difference does not come from the difference in food but rather is a genetic heritage.
They conclude therefore that there are two types of different phenotypes in size and colour therefore two sub species exist in the wild.
To ensure consistency & purity of stock always strive to select small sized birds coupled with strong natural red / orange in both sexes.
Immature birds especially hens often don’t show their full depth of body colour until their second season but a good indication of birds that will attain strong body colours is the brightness of their orange wing flashes - birds with vivid orange wing tips will almost certainly acquire bright red / orange colours to their chests as they mature.
DIET
There are many schools of thought regarding what is or isn’t best to feed our birds however I will base this section on what I find works best for my birds.
Red Siskins require plenty of variety in their diet if they are to remain healthy & breed successfully, it is not good practice to feed the same diet to your birds all of the time the reasons being that in the wild birds undergo two main dietary “seasons” these being times when food is plentiful and the birds have a good choice of what to eat, this period of time normally corresponds to their natural breeding season.
There are also times when food is scarce & the birds have to rely more on their body reserves to survive - with most birds this normally occurs during the winter months.
In order to keep Red Siskins fit and in tip top condition in captivity I believe it is necessary once the birds have finished their breeding season & also their annual moult to provide them with a “lean period” when they can burn off any excess weight before slowly reintroducing them back to a “full diet” in readiness once more for breeding.
With my birds this “lean period” tends to last for about 3 moths of each year & they receive their “full diet” for the remaining 9 months.
During their lean period I only feed a standard British Finch mixture (I use the “Countrywide” brand as I find that all of my Red Siskins prefer this to other brands of seed). Green food is only provided to the birds no more than once a week.
When my Siskins are being fed their “full diet” I continue feeding the above mixture but also slowly increase the amount of Niger seed added in addition they also receive in separate feeding pots a commercial “wild seed” mixture the one I use is Beyers “Health Seed Mix” which basically contains a good variety of wild seeds such as various grass seeds, clover seed,
Carrot seed, onion seed, cress seed, radish seed, spinach seed, millet, lettuce seed and rape seed to name a few.
I also feed fresh green food daily during this period & I find that my birds prefer to eat broccoli & cress.
For rearing food I use a commercial mixture (ORLUX Tropical Finch rearing food) to which I add a small quantity of freshly grated raw carrot & finely chopped cress, this is fed fresh twice per day when my birds are rearing chicks.
Red Siskins love to bath & my birds have access to clean bathing water at all times.
BREEDING
In the wild, the nest are built from March to April & from August to September in the fork of a tree well camouflaged in the upper foliage or in a bush, but also in the trees or the plant growth of (Tillandsia Usneoides) which in Venezuela is known as “Barba Palo”.
The nest is cup-shaped with a diameter of 10cm on average. It is made of dry grass, moss & roots to it’s outside. Its interior is lined with fine moss & feathers.
Egg laying occurs 7 to 8 days after fertilization: The female lays 3 to 4 eggs pinkish white stained reddish brown (medium size: 16.5mm x 12.2mm) incubation lasts for 12 to 14 days.
Red Siskin eggs.
The hen leaves the nest between the 3rd & 5th day after chicks have hatched only to return to feed them, the days & nights of these areas is relatively warm in their home country. The hen is fed by the male on the nest while she is breeding.
young red siskins in their nest.
Like Canaries, Red Siskins tend to have a very specific breeding season although when kept in controlled conditions they are capable of breeding at any time of the year.
My birds generally commence breeding from around the end of August & breeding takes place until the end of March sometimes extending into April.
This species breeds well in both flights/aviary accommodation or individual breeding cages, I prefer to breed my birds in breeding cages as it gives me total control of their management.
here is a picture showing the cages i use for breeding my Red Siskins.
In order to breed them successfully, it is essential to provide their nest with adequate privacy & having experimented with the use of various different types of nesting pans, I have found that my Red Siskins breed more reliably since I have been using the following design which hangs on the outside of their breeding cage.
This particular design allows for easy nest inspection & close ringing of young chicks without causing a lot of distress to the parent birds.
One important factor to take into account if you wish to breed Red Siskins inside a shed or birdroom as I do & you rely on the use of artificial lighting is that the lighting should be increased gradually until the birds receive at least 15 - 16 hours of lighting per day, any less than 15 hours & the nights will be too long for the chicks as they tend to grow very quickly & they require a lot of regular feeds from their parents even during the night time.
When I decide to pair my birds in readiness for breeding I place each pair into their breeding cages but separate the cock from the hen with a wire divider I then introduce a nest pan and a small quantity of nesting material to the hen if she is ready for breeding she should almost immediately start to explore the nest pan and nest building usaualy commences straight away.
Once nest building commences in earnest I then introduce the cock bird to the hen . The cock bird should react strongly and starts to sing loudly to the hen at the same time turning his chest towards the hen on the perch.
Mating normally takes place within a few seconds of the cock bird being introduced to the hen .
Some hens are notoriously poor nest builders and will spend ages trying to build a nest only to destroy it again so to help overcome this problem I always line each nest pan with nesting material and pre form it into a cup shaped nest before offering it to my hens and this seems to do the trick with my birds.
Hens lay anything from a single egg to five even six eggs at times although with my birds I find that average clutches tend to be four eggs for most pairs.
Some breeders prefer to remove the eggs and replacve them with dummy eggs until the full clutch has been laid thus allowing for all the eggs to hatch more or less at the same time.
I have never experienced problems with different aged chicks in the nest ( even with large clutches) so I tend to leave the eggs well alone.
Fertility rates I find are very good with my birds ( almost 100% ) so I rarely have to overcome problems with clear eggs.
In good parent reared strains of Red Siskins the hen will sit tightly on her nest and the cock bird will drive her back to the nest almost every time she tries to leave it, the cock bird will feed the hen on the nest.
There tends to be one crucial danger period when the risk of losses with young chicks is at it’s highest and this is usually the first 5 days following hatching.
Death at this time seems to occur mostly as a result of over Zealous brooding resulting in hen birds squashing or suffocating their chicks so to help prevent this problem I often separate the cock birds from the hen just before her eggs are due to hatch with a wire cage divider as this ensures that the hen has to leave her nest frequently in order to feed I will then re-introduce the cock bird to the hen once the chicks are 5 days old ( this is also the age that I close ring my young chicks ).
Fledging usually takes place once the chicks are 18 - 19 days old and by the time the chicks are 5 - 6 weeks old most are fully capable of fending for themselves also by this time the hens are normally laying their nest round of eggs.
a newly fledged Red Siskin chick
a pair of current year bred red siskins just starting to show their full colours.
The best breeding pairs of Red Siskins I have are the ones where the cock bird plays an active role feeding the young once they have fledged allowing the hen to re nest in the meantime.
In conclusion I can thoroughly recommend this species to anyone who is contemplating owning the Red Siskin , it is a bird possessing beautiful plumage, it has great character , is not too demanding and is not too difficult to breed either.
This article remains the property of Feathered Flyer and its Author , whilst we encourage the free distribution of articles in the pursuit of better birdkeeping we do ask that any printing (in part or full) be limited to non-commercial usage and must retain the copyright text and the link to http://www.featheredflyer.net at all times and without exception
Barry Levitt October 2007.
|
Last update: Nov 16 2007, 08:50 PM by bc.levitt Created: Oct 28 2007, 12:37 AM by bc.levitt
Edits: Array
Views: 3218
|
|
|
Keeping and breeding White Headed Nuns 2007 by Bone 
