Funky Bird Cages

Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves, characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton.

Lonchura Punctulata

Lonchura PunctulataLonchura Punctulata

Scientific Name: Lonchura punctulata

Origin: India and Sri Lanka

The Spice Bird is one of the most popular of the mannikin family. Hardy and easy to manage, it is an ideal species for the novice fancier.

Description:

Size: 13 cm (41/2 in)

COCK:

Head: chocolate brown. Upper parts: brown. Underparts: white and each feather is edged with dark brown. Beak: grey. Legs: brownish-grey. Eyes: black. Tail: dark brown.

HEN:

Alike, so sexing cannot be done by appearance. Listen to the unusual buzzing, humming song of the cock bird. If possible, purchase several birds to encourage them to select their mates.

Diet: (Seedeater)

Plain canary seed and mixed millets form the basic diet. Millet sprays and green food are also enjoyed.  

It can be housed outside throughout the year and only requires a dry, frost-proof shelter for roosting during winter.

Breeding:

Lonchura PunctulataSpice Birds are not particularly keen breeders, but do go to nest under the right conditions. Nest boxes and wicker baskets should be provided in secluded places, such as shrub berries. Pairs make their nests inside boxes or baskets with soft grasses, mosses, and feathers. They desert their nests at the slightest noise or disturbance.

Four to eight eggs are laid and the incubation period is 13 days. The parents should be kept well supplied with sprouted seeds, millet sprays, green food, and insects.

Should a pair fail to try to rear their young, Bengalese may be used as foster parents. Bengalese often interbreeds with this specie. They come from the same family (Lonchura). Parent-reared Spice Birds may be kept with their family to form a small colony.

Lonchura Punctulata Information

  • The bird is locally known as scaly-breasted munia, nutmeg manikin, or spice finch.
  • The bird is seen in tropical Asia, like the southern parts of India, Srilanka to Indonesia, and the Philippines. The bird has been manually introduced to the courtiers like Puerto Rico and Hispaniola where they have spread to the lowland areas. The bird is also introduced to places like California in the USA and the east coast of Australia.
  • The bird stays in small groups. They are found in a flight of 15 birds.
  • The birds are spotted in regions like open woodlands and areas of cultivation.

Breeding tips

    The following information is on the safe breeding of the bird.

  • Keep several birds in the aviary so that the birds are allowed to choose their breed.
  • Instead of a cage keep the birds in an aviary for promoting successful copulation and nesting. The birds can rear their cheeks better in a community aviary than in a cage as a lone pair.
  • Offer them a dome-shaped nesting basket as they generally build up a dome-shaped nest in wild. You may also allow them to build their nests by offering them nest-building materials like long grasses, bamboo leaves, plant stems, and coconut fibers.

Even after the fledging of the chicks, they can be allowed sleep during the night for the first couple of weeks.

See more: Green Singing Finch