Taxonomy/Origins: This African species inhabits dry desert edges over alarge area.
Subspecies: I have no knowledge of any sub species or races, but I would be very surprised if there isn't - due to the vast area this species covers.
Plumage Colouration: These birds are very easy to sex when adult. Male has a bright yellow body and head, with wings a deep flecked brown. Hens have virtually no yellow present. Body and head a light brown/grey and the wings light brown flecked. Young similar to the hens but after about 10 weeks young males may start to get a yellow wash around the shoulder area. In the breeding season the birds do not change colour but their colour intensifies. The major change is the males beak changes from horn colour to shiny black. Once this has happens their actions in the aviary change, with these birds seeming to have vigorous territory wars similar to the local sparrows in the garden, I have never seen any birds damaged and it is amusing to watch them.
Feeding: None breeding period; The normal good quality seed, I use a Budgie mix with extra canary seed and red millet added.
Breeding season; as above but soaked seed,madera cake and live food, a huge amount of mealworms when young are in the nest. In fact any live food except black ants and hairy caterpillers will be taken. These birds definitely expel the myth that you can feed too many mealworms to a birds in an aviary. The more the better.
Housing: I am of the opinion they are an aviary bird, not suitable for cages. The aviary does not have to be very big. If space is limited only put one pair of sparrows in. You can put other specie in with them though. They don't seem to worry other species because in the breeding season the males are too busy displaying, building, mating or rearing young. If you have the space they seem to do better in a colony. If only one pair can be kept in the flight keep another pair in another aviary close by so thet can hear and possibly see each other. This tends to stimulate the males to build and mate.
Breeding: I have seen photos of nests in boxes and have been told of them using nest boxes. I have never had any of my birds nest this way, even though boxes were available. Over the years my birds either nest in a shrub like a rose bush or jammed between the dry brush in the shelter and the roof. They build huge nests using twigs that they can hardly carry. I have watched males struggle flying from one point to another, eventually getting to the nest site because the stick was too heavy for direct flight. Their nests are a huge dome, most well over 30cms(12 inches) in diameter. Because they use such big sticks the nests they look like a juble of rubbish in a bush. Inside is a small nest chamber, feather lined holding eggs or chicks. The eggs are white with dark spots and blotches and clutch size is possibly four. The time it takes to hatch and fledge I am not sure of. The reason for this is that my sparrows will not tolerate interferance AT ALL. If people keep saying that their birds go to nest freely (thats normal) but don't produce any young. They are inspecting and or fiddling with the nest or not feeding enough live food. The young appear roughly 35 days after the hen starts to incubate (I think) they are similar to the hen but a shorter tail and seem to be frail looking yet most survive.
Hints/tips: When purchasing these birds make sure they are very active as they seem to stress when moved. If the bird is suspect prior to moving it will be worse when moved. Be prepared to make mistakes when buying hens and they turn out to be young males - it is easily done. Leave the young in with the parents as long as you can (minimum 10 weeks), they don't like being taken away from the flock situation and young will stress out and die. When handling them be very careful as they will suffer wing damage if handled roughly.
Unique Characteristics: These birds test the patients of experienced breeders easy to go to nest but touchy and unreliable when it comes to young on the perch.To a novice breeder the disappointment may be too much. They don't seem to ever calm down so if you want a yellow bird in a cage concider a canary first.
Your Awards: Never attempted to bench them as they are probably too wild.
Extra: This bird suffers from what I call single young syndrome (not only in my collection). You can have a reliable breeding pair producing 2 or 3 young per nest, then for the next one or two nests just a single young then back to multipul clutches again. No variation in food or live food quantity and not limited to isolated pairs. To the serious breeder these birds are worth concidering, if you can consistently rear young each season you have the challenge under control. GOOD LUCK!
Feel free to get in touch with any further questions. You can contact me via the FF Forum my username is 'David Holmes'.
