Taxonomy/Origins: TWidely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, although absent from the extreme south. Found in scrub thickets and cultivated land.
Subspecies: Altough there are many different distinct species of Firefinch I am not aware of any sub-species for the Red-Billed.
Plumage Colouration/Sexing: Cock - Pinkish- Red over majority of body, underside around vent brown along with the primary flight feathers. Dark eyes with thin ring of white skin surrounding eye. White spotting is visible on the flanks. Approximately 4cm in length. The beak is red with a black line running along the top and bottom
Hen - Brownish overall, but retains the white flecking on the flanks seen in the cock bird. Beak is of similar appearance to cock. Has pink/red colouring over the eyes running into head. Legs and feet are lightly coloured.
Juvenile - Similar to hen but lacking red colouration.
Feeding: Bulk of diet is made up of a good foreign finch seed. However it should be noted that as these birds are fairly small many of the seeds found in the mix will not be taken. I have found the best seed for these (and my other waxbills) are the Australian finch mix offered by Rob Harvey specialist feeds. In addition soaked and germinated seed is fed every day. Millet spray are also taken, it should be noted though that these birds are ground feeders and I have never observed them taking hanging millet so small parts of the spray are placed on the floor. One seed that is especially eagerly taken is Finnopaddy, a very fine seed from Africa, again this is available from Rob Harvey and whilst being fairly expensive I believe is well worth the cost. Live food (mini mealworms and fruit flies) are available year round. They also take greenfood chickweed being very popular.
Housing: If birds are acquired from a dealer check and see how long they have been in the country. When they are first imported they can be somewhat sensitive to sudden temperature change. With this in mind it is always preferable to obtain birds from breeders. When birds are first obtained always check what they have been fed on and try to replicate this before gradually moving them onto any new foods, I have found this very helpful in keeping losses of new birds to a minimum. Any new birds should be placed somewhere quiet and left to settle in. During the winter months these birds should never be allowed outside. I house them in flight cages 1.2m long, as they are quiet birds they can be housed with anything that will not harm them. During the breeding season they can be moved to outside quarters when the danger of frost has passed (late April/early May). All my aviaries have compost heaps in them and the firefinches really seem to appreciate these, often spending large amounts of time picking them over. If breeding is the aim, then birds should be housed in a planted flight or a large internal flight with cover provided.
Breeding: I have bred these birds before in a communal waxbill aviary. Both male and female have a noticably darker beak when in breeding condition. The birds used a half-open finch type nest box in a quiet corner of the aviary. The nest was made of cocconut fibre and lined with feathers. During this time I would not advise any nest inspections (the only time I did the hen deserted). The hen carried out the majority of the incubation which lasted around two weeks. After hatching the parents feed the young on small insects found in the aviary and where more often that not seen going through the compost heap. It should be noted that at this time very large numbers of small insects are needed, buffalo worms, mini mealworms, fruit flies were all taken eagerly. The parents also took a little egg food at this time. I am currently attempting to breed these birds in a large internal flight cage 1.2m long 45cm deep and 75cm high. I think that this will provide better breeding success due to the ability to control the environment. Although I have bred these before in an outside flight I only ever managed to get 1 bird from the nest each time. I think that this low rate may have been due to several factors, firstly these birds do not defend a nest site and I am sure that disturbance from other birds has put them off nesting as they seem to go for the most secluded site and rely on this factor for protection. In addition I have had birds start nesting and then give up when we get some of our inclement spells during the summer. Finally being housed with other birds that take live food during nesting has hampered breeding as again due to their quiet nature these birds tend to wait if there are lots of others at a feeding station.
Hints/tips: The birds that I have seen taking egg food where at some stage housed with finches that took this as part of their normal diet. During the winter months Bengalese are placed in with all my waxbills to help them get used to the eggfood.
Unique Characteristics: These are fascinating members of the waxbill family that given the correct surrounding and husbandry will thrive. They are very quiet in nature and I have always found them to be very steady after the initial settling in period. I would suggest that these birds are suitable for beginers providing they follow some of the simple rules outlined above. I have never shown them, but i think that due to their steady nature it would certainly be possible.
Feel free to get in touch with any further questions. You can contact me via the FF Forum my username is 'Matt Walters'.
