Blue-faced Parrot Finch in captivity in
Europe in 1887 and reportedly continued
his success for eight generations.
The Blue-faced is widely recognised
as a popular and free-breeding species in
Australian aviaries and will, if allowed,
breed all year round. It will readily use a
nest box, hollow log or dry brush attached
to one or more of the aviary walls.
The clutch of 4–6 eggs usually takes 14
days to hatch, with the young fl edging 21
days later. The young, which have two
iridescent turquoise nodules at either side
of the gape of their bills, feature a dull
green plumage.
Peter White has studied the Blue-faced
Parrot Finch in the wild and successfully
kept and bred them in England. He breeds
his fi nches in a birdroom and recommends
that ‘to stimulate successful breeding we
need to combine a number of important
factors—suitable temperatures, humidity,
effi cient light, day length and a high-
protein diet, as found in seeding grasses
and insects etc.
‘The change in the environmental
conditions and diet will encourage the
start to the breeding season. The rise in
temperature (humidity), longer day lengths
and the change to a higher protein diet all
herald the start of the breeding season in
the wild, so we need to assimilate this to
the best of our ability if we are to succeed
with this genus, or for that matter most
other birds kept in captivity’.
Blue-faced Demise in England
When seeking background material for this
article on the Blue-faced Parrot Finch in the
United Kingdom, I contacted Darren Sefton,
editor of Foreign Birds, the magazine of the
Foreign Bird League, England, founded in
1932, as well as Peter White. They supplied
the following information.
Darren Sefton said that historically, the
Blue-faced Parrot Finch was the second-
most common parrot fi nch kept in England
after the Red-headed Erythrura psittacea.
However, he said parrot fi nches had never
been very common. Most of the parrot
fi nches were bred in the early 1930s by
JEG Sweetnam (in Taunton, Somerset)
and some of the species he bred are now
impossible to get.
‘In the 1930s it must have been
incredibly diffi cult to get them transported
from the South Pacifi c in good condition,
especially as these would most likely have
come by sea over several weeks or even
months,’ Darren said.
Since importation to Australia would
not have involved such a long and stressful
journey, he said the Blue-faced were more
likely to have been received in larger
numbers and in better condition.
He believed the Blue-faced in England
had now been overtaken in popularity
by the Peale’s Parrot Finch Erythrura
pealii but most Peale’s were raised under
Bengalese Mannikins. It is very rare that
I see any now. He went on to say that at
a large sales day recently he had seen
only one pair of Lutino Blue-faced Parrot
Finches and there were no ‘Normals’.
Unfortunately, due to the high prices
that Lutinos used to attract, breeders
concentrated on them to the detriment of
the Normal.
‘As an example, I recall conducting a
sales class at a bird show and someone
brought two pairs of Lutinos that had been
brought in from Continental Europe. A
pair of Normals were about £30–35, but the
seller asked, and received, £300 for each
Lutino pair. Not only that, but there was a
queue to buy them, and he later told me he
sold them too cheap,’ Darren said.
Peter White, who has kept and bred
all except the three rarer parrot fi nches,
said, ‘Although they (Blue-faceds) are
among the most expensive of the fi nches
in the UK, and certainly not the easiest
of breeders, parrot fi nches have become
extremely popular over the years and
are always in great demand. They are
reasonably long-lived, usually to about
seven years, although often longer, and
some species have been known to live for
10 years or more.
‘They are charming, inoffensive and
extremely friendly, which makes them
ideal subjects for a mixed collection.
Because of their bright and attractive
colouring and their very active nature, it is
only in a fully planted aviary that their full
beauty can really be appreciated’.D&S AVIARY SERVICES
PREFABRICATED AVIARIES- Suspended and Conventional
- Breeding Complexes
- Cages to all designs for birds
and animals
Ph Dave 07 3294 6627
or 0408 115 547Email: [email protected] • http://www. dandsaviarys.com.auSite Installation
Freight
Australia WideKaralee,
QLDR KINGSTONBlue-faced Parrot Finch Lutino mutationPeter went on to say that at one time
the Blue-faced Parrot Finch in England
and Europe was so well established it was
almost classifi ed as domesticated. But,
as so often has happened in aviculture,
people have stopped breeding or even
keeping various species.
‘This species had become so successful
in aviculture that they became very
common and what appeared to be a surplus
was created, with the result that they
became the cheapest of all parrot fi nches
to buy,’ Peter said. ‘However, this surplus
did not last long and by 1997 the surplus
had become a shortage and suddenly it was
almost impossible to obtain this species.
It is an easy breeder among parrot fi nches
and therefore it was very easy to create a
surplus, with the result that the value of
this little bird fell drastically, making it no
longer a viable proposition for those whose
only interest in the hobby was to make
money out of it.’CONCLUSION
Although the Blue-faced Parrot Finch has
been a favourite for many years and is
probably one of the most common fi nches
held in Australian aviaries, little has been
recorded about it as an avicultural species.
I hope the information I have gathered
about this delightful fi nch will prove to be
both useful and interesting.REFERENCES
Cayley, NW 1932, Australian Finches in
Bush and Aviary, Angus & Robertson,
Sydney.
Edden, R & Boles, W 1986, Birds of the
Australian Rainforests, Reed, Frenchs
Forest, NSW.
Evans, S & Fidler, M 1990, Parrot Finches,
Blandford, London.
Forshaw, JM & Shephard, M 2012,
Grassfi nches in Australia, CSIRO
Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria.
Kingston, R 1998, Keeping and Breeding
Finches and Seed-eaters. Indruss
Productions, New Farm, Queensland.
Menkhorst, P, Rogers, D, Clarke, R, Davies,
J, Marsack, P & Franklin, K 2017, The
Australian Bird Guide,
CSIRO Publishing,
Clayton South.
Various articles,
Australian Aviculture,
Avicultural Society
of Australia,
Melbourne.