Avicultural Society of Canberra Inc

Description
This bird is approximately 250 to 280 mm long with a slightly more robust body than other members of this species such as Hoodeds, Golden Shoulders and Blue Bonnet’s. The cock bird, while predominantly green in colour, exhibits a fair amount of yellow on the chest and belly, has a blue flash on the primary flight feathers and tail, with the underside of the tail feathers being white and a large red patch on the rump. The hen is a dull mottled green overall with a blue flash on the wing. While basically a sedentary bird in the wild, their distribution range covers almost the whole south eastern corner of Australia, with the first sighting recorded in February 1838. In the wild Red Rumped Parrots feed mainly on the ground with the diet consisting of native and introduced grass seeds, herbaceous plants and seeds from trees and shrubs.

Housing
I must state that while these birds are highly social groups in the wild, in an aviary situation it is strictly one pair per flight. Many years ago I bred red rumped’s in a colony situation with budgies in a large flight with no hassles what soever. Then I moved the 3 breeding pairs into a flight of their own and all hell broke loose. Other experiences since then have confirmed this experience that they are quite aggressive to their own species (as well as others) in confined situations such as an aviary. However cocks and hens can be housed separately in flights with their own sexes. The aviaries are constructed of 25mm RHS galvanised tube welded for the framework, galvanised iron sheeting for the roof and walls with 12mm square heavy wire mesh covering the remainder. Most flights are ¾ covered with the gal iron, the remainder covered with mesh and open to the elements. All aviaries have a safety porch/walkway to prevent accidental escapes. Because I am rather tall all entrance doors are 1.8 metres high, this saves the back a lot of stress and will greatly help in my advancing years. All aviaries sit on a concrete base for ease of maintenance and cleaning My aviary flight sizes for these birds are 2.4 metres long x 2.4 metres high and 900 mm wide. I have a perch at the front and one at the back at approx. 2.1 metres high. I find that with 2.4 metre high flights and 2 metre perches the birds seem more calm and don’t panic as much when I enter the flights. Seed hoppers with catchers are fixed to the side walls with water dishes (imitation terracotta pot plant saucers 300mm diameter) placed on the floor. A dish containing cuttlebone, shellgrit and charcoal is also placed on the floor. A galvanised wire dish is hung on the mesh for feeding fresh greens and vegetables. Any seed or water containers should be placed where they cannot be easily fouled by the birds ie not under perches or favourite resting places.

Diet
I feed all my birds the same basic seed mix except for the finches. The parrot diet consists of a Finch/Budgie mix which is equal parts Canary, White French Millet, Jap, Red & White Panicum. To this I add one more part canary seed then mix this 8 parts to 1 part Grey Striped Sunflower and ½ part Naked Oats. I feed this same mix unvaried throughout the year. During the non-breeding season I feed vegetables, fruit etc. and egg & biscuit twice a week. In July I start increasing the feeding regime to 3 or 4 times a week till they go to nest, then they are fed every day with increasing amounts when the eggs hatch. Once the young have fledged I taper the volume of supplementary foods down but still feed every day. These birds are prone to obesity so attention to diet should be observed and varied where necessary. I maintain cuttlebone, charcoal and shell grit at all times. The shell grit I have been using lately is the Calcium Grit Mix (with extra minerals, charcoal and crushed egg shells) that our club stocks and I am finding the birds are consuming more of this than the previously used one. Fresh water is a must every day, as these birds love to bathe. As we wouldn’t drink our own bath water, so I don’t expect the birds to either, within reason. How ever I believe you are only wasting time with 2 separate dishes, as the birds cannot tell which is drinking water and which is bathing water. In summer the water bowls are scrubbed out every day with household bleach and a scourer, in winter every 2nd day. I would eventually like to install an automatic watering system, but you still have to manually clean water dishes and check that the system does not clog up. I don’t feed supplementary vitamins, as I believe that if you have a good enough and varied diet then you should not need to. How ever I occasionally add calcium to the water to boost their intake.
Red Rumped’s can be prone to worms, so I crop drench all birds at least twice a year around August/September and again around March/April. If I suspect a bird has a problem it is wormed as necessary. I currently use Avitrol Plus and Nilvern Pig and Poultry wormer on a rotational basis.

Breeding
Most Red Rumped’s are pretty flexible when it comes to nesting facilities. At the moment I am using mainly nest boxes, I find nest boxes much easier to clean out and more serviceable. I am currently using 2 shapes, a deep vertical one and a horizontal one. The verticals are 450 mm to 500 mm deep and approx 200 mm square. The horizontal one is 240mm x 300 wide, 290mm deep with a slightly tapered bottom. These nest boxes are fixed in the covered portion to the rear or side walls of the aviaries. Entrance hole size is 65 mm. I use a mixture of sawdust and wood shavings packed tightly into the base as nesting material. This is about 25 mm to 35 mm deep. Of the 10 pairs that I currently keep only 1 pair use a log. The breeding season normally starts around August and continues to around mid February. As mentioned previously these birds are great bathers, more so as the breeding season approaches, so it is essential to have fresh water available at all times. Egg clutch size ranges from 4 to 7 eggs, these being laid at approx 2 day intervals with incubation period of 21 to 25 days commencing from the 3rd or 4th egg. Only the female incubates with the cock feeding the hen and the hen feeding the chicks. The young fledge around 4 to 5 weeks later. As these birds are sexually dimorphic (except for a couple of mutations) they can be sexed in the nest at the pin feather stage. Young Red Rump’s are mature at approx 12 months of age with a life span of 20 to 25 years.

Mutations
There are currently around 30 colour mutations of the Red Rumped Parrot in Australia with 2 more occurring in overseas aviaries. The more common mutations are the Lutino, Cinnamon, Blue, Opalines, Pied’s and Silvers with combinations of these colours occurring as well.
In conclusion these birds are quite hardy, easy to maintain and will bred quite freely in an aviary situation.

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