Saint helena waxbill 

Found in store, for more details call Birdsville 9667 2555. More information coming soon.

Availability at birdsville

All year round

 

Natural distribution and habitat

Native to Africa they reside in Ethiopia, sudan and nigeria and some surrounding areas.  true to finch nature they are never far from water frequenting villages, cultivated areas and grassy fields.

Saint Helena Finch
Saint Helena Finch

Diet for the Saint Helena Waxbill

Seed– Feed your Saints a good quality finch mix especially if you desire to breed them.  Be wary of some supermarket mixes as they may be of low quality, if you are unsure of the seed you are using ask your local bird expert.

Sprouted seed– A great addition to the diet be sure to clean the sprouted seed thoroughly with aviclens to remove any bacteria before feeding to your birds.

Millet sprays– A fresh millet still on the stem loved by all finches

Greens– seeding grasses, endive, dandelion, cucumber and chickweed.

Vitamin supplement– important for the health and vitality of all finches this must be added via the water supply.

Live food– An important part of the saints diet especially when breeding use meal worms and fly pupae with a few pinches of wombaroo insectivore mix.

Egg and biscuit– an important supplement especially when breeding this can be fed dry or mixed with water.

Grit– use a good quality fine finch grit with charcoal, shell, baked egg shell, crushed cuttlebone and limestone.

Fresh drinking water

Sexing Saint Helena Finches

The male has more red on the belly than the female, also on the ventral area the male is black where the hen has a more brown colour.

Breeding Saint Helena Finches

Saint helena finches can be bred is either breeding cabinets or aviaries.  There breeding season is from september through to april.  These finches will breed in a variety of nesting places such as nest boxes or wicker nests.  It is important to supply nesting material such as swamp grass and feathers for them to line the nest with.  These are all available at birdsville.    There should always be more nests supplied than there is pairs to give the birds some choice and stop squabling over a favourite nest site.

The hen will lay around 6 white eggs with incubation taking 12 days.  It is important to increase the amount live food fed during breeding.  The young will remain in the nest for a further 3 weeks until they venture outside.  It will still be a further 3 weeks the parents will feed the young as they build confidence and learn how to crack seed.  Never remove young birds from the aviary until they are fully weaned.  After breeding remove all the old nesting material.

Saint Helena Finch
Saint Helena Finch