New Challenge: Finespotted Woodpecker
Cage & Aviary Birds|March 14, 2018

Always a fan of the Afrotropical species, GARY BRALSFORD grabbed the chance to take on a pair of this species recently. Key tip so far: be prepared to provide a lot of replacement logs!

New Challenge: Finespotted Woodpecker

SOFTBILLS

A FEW months ago I was lucky enough to pick up a lovely pair of fine-spotted woodpeckers (Campethera punctuligera) from a well-known bird dealer in Redditch. He had three birds: two cocks and a hen. All three were in immaculate condition and housed in a large flight with other birds. These occupants were much bigger, such as Victoria crowned pigeons (Goura victoria) and large African starlings.

The dealer fed them on a mixed diet for omnivorous species with fruits, seeds, softfoods, vegetables and livefood with minced beef. He had also placed a large fern stump in the flight, which they loved, and I decided to replicate this in my own set-up.

Settling in back at Gary’s

I got the birds home and set about making a flight for them. I chose a 3m long x 1.2m wide x 2m high (10ft x 4ft x 7ft) flight inside my birdroom. The walls of this purpose-built construction were made from PVC, with a panel on one side made from solid steel. (Woodpeckers can peck their way out of a standard wooden frame within a few hours.)

I then went down to the local wood made up of silver birch trees, of which many had fallen over through wind damage. The tree stumps contained a lot of invertebrates such as woodlice, ants, earwigs and spiders. I transported the logs in plastic bin liners to stop the insects getting all over the car and to contain them in the wooden logs.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 14, 2018 من Cage & Aviary Birds.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 14, 2018 من Cage & Aviary Birds.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

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