Having long admired this very colourful species Dawn and I were very fortunate in spotting our first pair in a local dealer’s establishment, the birds in question were both young unrelated birds that came from the dealers own private collection of breeding birds.

After spending a long time observing the birds in question and asking numerous questions regarding their previous diet / housing requirements etc we purchased the pair in the hope that we may breed from them?- that was in November of last year.

After the pair had spent a few weeks quarantine in our own establishment we transferred the birds to their own breeding enclosure.

This consists of an “all wire” cage measuring 36” x 24” x 24” into which we placed a whickers type Canary nest pan surrounded by a large amount of confer branches to give the birds as much privacy as possible.

We feed our Hooded Siskins a varied diet consisting of “Hooded Siskin Mix” obtainable from Rob Harvey specialist Bird Feeds, to which we add a good quality plain Canary seed and various types of wild grass seeds.

"Orlux Tropical Finch rearing food" to which we add a little freshly chopped cress is provided twice a week to start with and increased to twice per day once the first chicks started to appear.

Green food offered mainly consists of Broccoli to which we have noticed our birds seem to enjoy eating.

ALL our birds including the Hooded Siskins receive Carr’s Add Herb Aqueous daily in their drinking water.

Within a few weeks of being placed into their breeding cage our pair of Hooded Siskins began constructing a nest using mainly fine coconut fibre and dried grasses which we had offered them in good supply, nest construction was undertaken by both birds and the cock bird was observered constantly taking nesting material to the hen while she would be busy arranging it within the nest.

Nest construction lasted for roughly 9 days after which the hen spent considerable time sitting in the nest, the first egg was laid on the 5^th February followed by a further 3 eggs laid 2 days apart.

Unfortunately one egg failed to mature although the three remaining ones all proved to be fertile.

Hooded Siskin eggs are similar in size and markings to those of Canaries that being a pale blue in colour with dark brown speckling.

After 14 days of incubation the first chick hatched successfully followed by another 2 chicks 2 days later.

Although both parents were very protective towards their clutch, constantly watching our every movement within the bird room it was only the hen that we saw feed the chicks, the cock bird was always seen standing guard very close to the nest and if we got too close to the nest for his liking he would fly around his cage as if to draw our attention away from the nest.

The three young chicks grew at a very fast rate and by the time they were all 8 days old they had a large amount of pin feathers showing, their eyes open and the yellow markings of their wings could be seen quite clearly, surprisingly despite the eldest chick being a few days older than the other two they were all very evenly matched in size and we could not tell them apart visually.

All three chicks fledged together 17 days after the first egg hatched, initially both parents continued feeding the chicks but after 2 or 3 days following fledging the chicks were seen eating the softfood and generally pecking around at the seed pots- within a week of fledging they were all capable of feeding for themselves although we left them remaining with their parents a further week to be on the safe side.

No signs of any aggressive behaviour was seen to be displayed from either parents towards their chicks despite the fact that they commenced nest building again as soon as their chicks had fledged.

The hen commenced laying her second clutch on the 8^th April and although she laid three eggs one was broken and failed to develop, the remaining 2 eggs were both fertile and both hatched 13days from when the first egg was laid.

Although as we write this article the chicks are still only a week old they are growing well and the parents seem to be doing a splendid job at rearing them.

To anyone contemplating on breeding Hooded Siskins our advice is to try to purchase young birds , unfortunately many birds that we have seen offered for sale are older birds and are probably past their best when it comes to breeding.

Dawn and I would very much like to make contact with any other breeders of this delightful species in order to share experiences / exchange bloodlines, we can be contacted via e mail at bc.levitt@ntlworld.comBarry Levitt and Dawn Rushall .

In the Wild

Nobody who has the pleasure of keeping and possibly breeding birds in captivity should ignore what has happened to birds in the wild in their native Venezuela and certain areas of Trinidad. Black-hooded Red Siskins are highly endangered and threatened with extinction in their natural habitat and conservative estimates suggest that there are probably no more than a few hundred pairs left in the wild. This is largely due to human habitat destruction coupled with the simple fact that too many birds were trapped for the pet market several decades ago especially for breeding the then very popular Red Factor Canaries – the forerunners of the now very popular Coloured Canary Fancy. We should not wonder that the species decline in the wild led to it being specially protected and classed as "critically endangered" in Venezuela in 1982 and by CITES in 1987. Shouldn’t we who specialise in the Coloured Canary fancy all be examining our consciences as to what we can do to return birds to the wild?

Despite the fact that the Black-hooded Red Siskin can be bred relatively successfully in captivity, attempts to reintroduce captive bred birds back into the wild have largely been unsuccessful. It is believed that many captive bred birds were infected with avian tuberculosis and this would pose a serious threat to wild birds should such infected birds be released.

In the US research is currently being undertaken by both the University of California and the Texas A & M University in conjunction with a consortium of dedicated breeders and volunteers to establish a breeding group of birds suitable for a breeding/reintroduction programme. Known as the "Red Siskin Recovery Project", this effort currently being sponsored by the American Federation of Aviculture aims to establish a breeding stud with young birds being released to bolster wild populations to ensure the Black-hooded Red Siskin will be around for future generations. Details of which can be found at < www.afabirds.org/afa_rsp.shtml>

Barry and Dawn - November 2006.