Bourkes chick fledged

One of the bourkes chicks left the box yesterday.  I'll get some photos once the other two come out.
The other bourkes in the aviary have an egg.  We'll have to see if this round of eggs are fertile, I have my doubts again as Pinky the rubino male doesn't appear to be much of a stud....he keeps falling off.  Maybe he can't get a good grip due to lacking a toe.
The turks 5 eggs are due to start hatching at the weekend.
It's really starting to get a bit late in the year now for new eggs, already night time temperatures are well into single figures (centigrade).

Bourkes nest videos

I thought I'd post some videos of the bourkes chicks before they leave the nest.

Dad feeding the chicks...

Older chick feeding younger chick..

Chicks exercising their wings ready for the big day!

No sound unfortunately...frustrating as it was working the other day!

Last of the splendids

After 4 years I've finally given up on splendids, having now sold my remaining birds.  After the loss of Barney this year and the disasters and expense I had with lutino's I've decided to just keep the bourkes and turqs from now on, they are just that bit more hardy for my aviaries which don't get any sun in the winter months.

The bourkes chicks are just feathering up.  Bourkes are not the best house-keepers, splendids and turqs are much more tidy.

Bourkes courtship display

Rosa and rubino bourkes are notoriously difficult to sex, unlike normals which can be sexed easily by the hens having an under the wing stripe.  In rosa's both cocks and hens have the stripe.
To be sure the only way is to see the cock bird displaying.  I managed to catch my rubino doing this, it wasn't easy as he would stop every time when he saw me filming.

This rubino was bought as a hen and it took me a long time to find out that he was in fact a cock. The problem was that a cock bird will rarely display if he's with another more dominant male, he will even act hen like, allowing the dominant cock bird to feed them.

My turqs have started another clutch....so far two eggs.

The previous two turq chicks are now independent and have been moved to the brown aviary, the cock bird is starting to get his red chest now.

I also have Mr Burns and Marge (seagreen and lutino splendids) now together in this aviary in one last attempt to breed my remaining splendids this year.  Lisa the white breasted blue splendid was just not interested at all.

The bourkes chicks are growing fast and are just starting to open their eyes.

Bourkes nest - unclean

Picture and video of the 3 bourkes chicks.  The bourkes are not the best house-keepers, as can be seen from the state of the nest box.

It looks like out of the failed eggs, one was fertile.

I still haven't managed to get sound working with this wireless camera.

3 chicks...I think!

3 chicks have hatched, although it's hard to tell as they just merge into one fluffy ball.

I've removed the eggs from my other pair of bourkes...all infertile.

Rosa Bourkes chicks

My pair of rosa bourkes, Rocky and Rosie have at last got chicks. One chick hatched yesterday and the other today, hopefully the other fertile eggs will also hatch. I've got the web cam back on line in their nest box.  The cam can be viewed from the link on my website. It's the wireless cam so the signal is not always perfect.
Rocky spends a lot of time in the box with his mate, including roosting. This is a bit unusual as grass parakeet males normally only go in the box to feed the hen and chicks.  Strange, but when a bred a pair of splendids in this breeding cage, the male also roosted in the box. 
My other pair of bourkes have eggs, but I'm not sure if they are fertile, I haven't managed to get a close look yet.  I have my doubts as the mating attempts of Pinky, the Rubino cock have been a bit feeble.