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Speckled Mousebirds

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srtiels

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Oct 22 I went to Seaworld and did the trade for some Speckled mousebirds, and had a visit with Carole.

The new Speckled have settled in nicely, and are eating well. They love papaya, and the pigeon peas amongst a variety of fruit. I was surprised in handling that they were calm considering some (3) were parent raised and some (3) were handfed then released into a large planted aviaty of mixed species of birds. Normally a bird that is semi-wild will squirm and wigglew in my hand, squeal, and lightly bite on my fingers. These were pretty docile when I picked them up. Since they were in an aviary where there were lots of visitors walking thru they were pretty used to being around peiple.

I let them settle in for a couple days before I started a record sheet for them, which I added their weight, and if a female added a pink plastic leg band, and if a male a blue plastic leg band. This makes it easier to look at the leg to see which are females and males at a glance.

I noticed that the females are 5-10 grams heavier than the males. And the females have a broader/thicker leg. Whereas with White-backed the males are heavier than the females. The Speckled have the softest body feathers of all the species of mousebirds. And I heard they make the best pets of the mousebirds.

It is interesting as to their tails. All my other species of mousebirds have very narrow, hard and stiff tail feathers. The Speckled have broad soft and flexible tail feathers.

In going over the paperwork, since they were colony/aviary housed and bred the parentage is unknown, so I will actively be seeking some unrelated Speckled. I found 2 Speckled in Quebec Canada. The man is reluctant about exporting/shipping so I'm sending him info, but will need someone on the US side to maybe picked them up at the border and take them to an airport to ship to me. I'll know more as I work things out.

Canadian Border Ports:
Eastport (Idaho)
Houlton and Jackman (Maine)
Detroit, Port Huron, Sault Ste. Marie (Michigan)
Baudette (Minnesota)
Opheim, Raymond, and Sweetgrass (Montana)
Alexandria Bay, Niagara Falls/Lewiston, and Champlain (New York)
Dunseith, Pembina, and Portal (North Dakota)
Derby Line and Highgate Springs (Vermont)
Oroville, and Sumas (Washington)


I will be letting a mousebird breeder in CA have 2 Speckled in Exchange for 2 of her Speckled when her pairs have babies again. And I heard of anothet person in CA that may have some Speckled. I will be doing a trade with her of 2 Blu-naped pairs for some of her parent weaned young (relatives of Gryphon) so that I have new blood for Belle and the other BN I have held back.


I'm learning as I work with my other species of mousebirds to try and keep the bloodlines as diverse as I can...which sometimes can be hard when there are so few people working with and breeding mousebirds. Plus there have not been any imports for a few years, which is always new bloodlines to rejuvinate existing captive bred stick. When related or even distantly related birds are bred together size tends to deminish with each sucessive generation.

Below are some pix's. I want to take more of the check and neck to show the very delicate barring they have. Other names for the Speckled mousebirds are: Bar-Breasted, White-Cheeked, or Striated. The last pix is of Captain Jack, one of the most loved and well known Speckled mousebirds at SeaWorld. She LOVES to be handled or to hang on a person. When her neck is rubbed she fluffs out and vibrates her body in pleasure :)
 

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atvchick95

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that's so cool :)

Of course I was expecting to see speckles -like their name - I was thinking they were gonna look like Dalmatian dogs LOL - but Names can be deceiving :D
 

srtiels

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LOL...Kelli...when I first heard the name 'Speckled' I was extecting a spotted bird, till I googled and looked at pix's. They should really go by 'Bar-Breasted' because of the delicate barring they have on the chests.

They are fairly quiet so far and make soft cheeping noises.
 

atvchick95

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LOL...Kelli...when I first heard the name 'Speckled' I was extecting a spotted bird, till I googled and looked at pix's. They should really go by 'Bar-Breasted' because of the delicate barring they have on the chests.

They are fairly quiet so far and make soft cheeping noises.

That is true I can see a bit of the baring in the 1st pic

the last group of pics the 1st pic Really shows off that tail of theirs :) I don't think I've ever seen such a long tail on a tiny bird Other than that one type of finch That now i can't remember the name I see them a lot at bird fairs they have extremely long tails too and such tiny little bodies
 

waterfaller1

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Ooh I just love them Susanne. Overall to spite your feeling on the weights, I think they look good & healthy.:)
 

srtiels

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Ooh I just love them Susanne. Overall to spite your feeling on the weights, I think they look good & healthy.:)
----------------------------

Yes...they look great. And when I felt them for weighing the chests were plump.

#2597-female...47gr...handfed
#2598-female...52gr...parent raised
#2601-female...49gr...handfed

#2600-male...42gr...handfed
#2602-male...40gr...parent raised
#2603-male...43gr...parent raised

I like how Seaworld did up record sheets. So I am going to design some similar and also set-up/breeding sheets to add for others to use on the website for record keeping.

I can't wait til there are babies and do up the daily growth of Speckled in the nest. And Seaworld gave me copies of weight gains on the ones they pulled to handfed, so I will use them as a guide when I handfeed. I'm suspecting my homemade formula with good daily weights similar to parent fed will show a better gain than what they had. When I used published mousebird handfeeding diets I did not get good weigh gain or nice chest muscles. When I modified and did my own formula and added the protein sources I saw a great difference in good weights that they maintained after weaning.
 

Renae

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Awe, cute! They do look great, as well as happy and very healthy. :)
 

srtiels

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Thanks Renae...they are nice birds :)...and have adapted pretty well to the changes and not skittish.
 

expressmailtome

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I am glad that they are settling in well! It is nice that the mousebirds went to such a great breeder as you.

Matt
 

waterfaller1

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The round eye kind of gives them an expression. Not sure exactly what it is...shocked maybe?? Like they are always saying:omg: or:wow:..

lol:lol:
 

robin's my baby

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i was so sad i went to the zoo on Saturday and i couldn't see a single one as they were hidden in the bushes....there poor honeycreeper male was going through eclipse to
 

waterfaller1

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i was so sad i went to the zoo on Saturday and i couldn't see a single one as they were hidden in the bushes....there poor honeycreeper male was going through eclipse to
What zoo did you go to that had honeycreepers and mousebirds? You don't have to feel sorry for the male honeycreeper, it's a natural process!:hug8:
 
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