Breeding report 2005Luscinia svecica cyanecula

The blue throat

The Blue throat is a bird found in Europe, Asia, west Alaska and North America. The man has a brown to dark brown back and a striking bright blue bef. This just in the breeding period. In the winter, this blue is almost entirely away. Under the blue is a chestnut brown rim, belly color is brown/gray. On the tail is this bird red/brown with a black band at the end. The blue throat has in blue a white spot, this explains it’s name in the Dutch language . The female looks almost exactly like the male except the white spot and has much less blue, she is also not as bright in color.

 In the Netherlands we can look for this species in swamp/cane areas .Breeding occurs in nature in the cane, also on the ground well hidden among the reeds or grass pollen.The nest is made of grass, moss and some dead reeds or straws. Up to six eggs can be laid. Those eggs are greenish blue in color and sometimes with some spots on the blunt side.The eggs are incubated between twelve and fourteen days and mainly by the female.The youngsters abandoned after a day or 2 the nest and can still doesn't fly well. In nature the brought up on mainly insects.

Breeding: When they were in my possession was in September, I linked them right away and in a spacious outdoor aviary . Two meters high, one meter wide and two and a half meters deep. This has never led to problems.During the cold winter months they were transfer into a inside enclosure . They never sat at a temperature above five degrees. In this time they were separated from each other in smaller breeding cages. On 20 March, in the outdoor aviary birds are both put in but the female in a small cage added, so they were together but still separated. In order to get used to each other again.

Pairing up attempt 1:On April the first (how can you choose this day ) the female was released in the man his aviary. The reaction of the male was very striking, He immediately began his incredible beautiful, long and fierce vocals that was hard/loud and frequent. This was for me a very intense sound.I thought the link was good, but after a three-hour long observation I went to eat .I was still not entirely out of the field of view of the birds (you look at them, but they also look at you) or the horribly violent battles broke loose. I have never had in my life caught a bird so quickly out of an aviary , gladly because if I hadn't intervened the female surely had died .

Pairring up attempt two: On 17 april,still in the mind what had happened the first couple attempt, I let the female loose again in the aviary of the man.There were fights directly but significantly less violently as the first time . And after another observation (this time at least five hours) I decided for myself that this time, despite the fighting, it was going to be allright and the birds were left alone.

On two may was the nest ready, that high at the top of the cage was built, only coconut fiber was used, in a natural nestblock, and was the first egg laid.On 7 May the female sat firm on the nest. On 16 may at the second check I saw that there were laid six eggs.At 7 pm, there were four youngsters born , the remaining eggs were unoccupied. On 24 may, I ringed the four youngsters and were ringed with the legal 2.5 mm ring.After eleven days the juveniles climbed out of the nest.And on 14 June I considered the juveniles independent. On 10 June the second round started , with the first egg, in this time that a new nest on the ground was built in a clump of grass and sat.On 23 June there were from the four eggs laid three youngs born and there was an unfertilized egg . On 26 June a young found dead next to the water bowl .The other two seem well brought up. On the twenty-ninth of June the two juveniles ringed . They do not look so good, and not much later it also found dead, next to the water bowl .

After some phone calls showed that if you one hundred percent natural breeding, there is normally no second round . One fits the hand-rearing than there would be two or three rounds can be raised. But this to me is not an option, purely as a matter of principle. And so you always can learn something new in the bird sports.On some points failed it is actually no difficult bird to held or breed and with some very good taking care you will be rewarded with youngsters , wich she can bring up very well in a natural way .And hand-rearing is, in my opinion, so really no needed for beautiful blue breasts youngsters to grow and to become adults .The principle of natural breeding I adjust so on all my birds , birds like wrens , red throat nightingales, hoopoe and many , many other species. To this report must be said that at the time of the second round and the youngster were incubated the temperature was more than 30 degrees outside the aviary and even more so in the Aviary maybe up to 35-40 . Maybe I kept with a little bit more luck and better weather conditions the youngsters of the second round alive.

The ring size of 2.5 mm is legally correct (at this time of writing), only I'm instinctively inclined to say that also a very convenient size is 2.7 mm . The ring is in this case also with no possibility in a normal way of the leg to remove . I myself have no problems with the casting out of the nestlings if there had to be so early ringed, with the rings of 2.5 mm . I did have spoken other breeders where this was the case, and I think, therefore, that if you have one or two days later to ring the youngsters with a 2.7 mm this the survival rate of the young birds are huge.I always put a valve tube on to the rings back, because this reduces the chance of throwing out of young birds by the parent birds . This kind of measures are necessary to get young's to adultery , and this is still intended if you keep birds . To breed with them and keep them alive. The song of the male is even late into the night. And when he sings again very early in the morning it’s beautiful song you're inclined to think that the male sings twenty-four hours a day in the breeding season . The male goes on an elevation and throws its tail straight up, let his wings with the points hanging down , then throws his whole head back and then put his beak wide open , and then he starts singing as if his life depends on it.

Feeding: To me there is no difference between the rest period in terms of conduct and the breeding time , I actually only vary with the amount and of course different feed.The feed consists of mealworms , buffaloworms , flylarva ( frozen) , crickets , grasshoppers and whatever else is available . The meal and buffalo worms are powdered with aves sprinkle powder and a small amount of spirulina. I use nothing more . No medicines, no other food upgrade powders etc.I tried to get the blue breasts to eat egg food, but this is in my experimenting three months not once recorded by the birds. Such experiments do you do so also only in the rest period.On the Dutch Championships in Apeldoorn I got (again ) the title certificate : first bred in avian culture and the title Dutch Champion .Also this species was exchanged for a new species to breed and new challenge for me. Text: A . Y. Bakker te Dordrecht.Photos : Jan de Nijs / Piet Onderdelinden en Fam. BakkerText and spell check: abc spellingcontrole M.P.P.Translate : Google translate