canberrabirds

Nesting behaviour of Crimson Rosellas

To: "COG Chatline" <>
Subject: Nesting behaviour of Crimson Rosellas
From: "Lia Battisson" <>
Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2013 09:00:12 +1000
I have a pair of Crimson Rosellas occupying the nesting box that Kate Grarock’s team put up in a tree in my front yard in September ‘09. 
 
In ‘09 Common Mynas used the box, laying eggs within 2 weeks of installation.  As soon as the Mynas were removed, bees moved in.  I had an apiarist remove the nesting box, so that was the end of Spring ‘09.  In October 2010 another box was installed.  This time we bypassed Common Mynas and went straight to bees, within a couple of weeks.   Time went by and I couldn’t get an apiarist who was interested to take them away.  Bee activity continued but seemed to dwindle, until July of this year when no more bees were observed.  In late August I cleaned out the old honeycomb with a kitchen knife, et voila, within days a pair of Crimson Rosellas was checking it out!  By 17 September it was evident that the female was spending some time in the box each day.  Now she is clearly sitting on eggs, as only occasionally is her head seen at the entrance hole.
 
I expected that the male would feed her during this time, but they go off together to feed, at least twice a day.  Yesterday and the day before he came to a nearby tree at 5:55 pm, called her and within a minute they flew off together.  The same thing happened this morning at 07:25.  I don’t know how long they go for, as I haven’t managed to catch them coming back.  Presumably they do so quietly.
 
Can anybody tell me how long it is likely that they are away from the nest, so that I can see if I can’t pick up on their pattern?
<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the Canberra Ornithologists Group mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the list contact David McDonald, list manager, phone (02) 6231 8904 or email . If you can not contact David McDonald e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU