The Melba Finch - Pytilia melba

Melbas are the largest and most attractive member of the Pytilia genus. The species' avicultural status in Australia is largely a reflection of its highly insectivorous dietary needs and preference for warmer conditions. Its no coincidence that the species is kept and bred in greater numbers in warmer regions which have a far more accessible supply of termites (their clear favourite). Even within these areas the quantities of livefood required to consistently breed Melbas is enough to deter many prospective breeders from including the species in their collections. I contend that any extra effort required to meet the Melba's needs is well worth the effort as apart from the species' obvious visual beauty they are certainly far more extroverted characters than the other available pytilia species. The courtship ritual is a feast for the ears and the eyes and the genuine eagerness with which you are met as you bring another feed of termites for their young makes them a real pleasure to keep and breed.

They naturally inhabit much of tropical and mainly eastern Africa. Within this large area they particularly prefer dry and fairly open country provided there is thorny acacia or other bush cover available. These natural preferences are important indicators of the ideal aviary habitat - in a nutshell, warm and dry. Melbas seem to utilise and enjoy direct sunlight much more often than any other finch species I have kept. They regularly sprawl out on the ground sun-baking with wings askew seemingly in a delirious trance of sheer ecstasy.

The Melba population in Australian aviaries shows considerable variation in certain attributes which stems from the fact that several subspecies were among those originally imported many years ago. My own definite preference is for males which exhibit the red of the throat spreading over much of the breast with only the sides and the lower edge of the red area tinged with gold - each to their own but I reckon this type of Melba is hard to beat. Such specimens usually also exhibit red suffusion on the shoulder and wing flights. These characteristics are typical of the P.m.grotei and P.m.belli subspecies. The bird in the photo above clearly exhibits these characteristics as do the other males shown in the other photos accompanying this article.

The only subspecies which I can confidently say I have never seen evidence of in the Australian population is P.m.citerior in which the male has red behind the eye and over the lores (between the eye and the beak). It is difficult to detect any significant differences between the hens so I normally just select for size, pinkness of the bill and clarity of the barring down her chest and flanks. I find that the upper mandible of hens tends to darken to grey along its ridge as they mature.

The species is also known as the Green-winged Pytilia in some other countries. The photo below shows why. Some avicultural writers get on their high horse at times and try to argue that certain common names are incorrect. I believe that as long as the species has been correctly categorised taxonomically as Pytilia melba, for example, it is not possible to be incorrect with any common name as a common name is simply what we recognise and refer to a species as when we talk or read about it.



As I alluded to earlier, the ideal Melba diet is highly insectivorous compared to most other finches. In fact, I would go so far as to say they are certainly the most insectivorous estrildid finch species available in Australia. They will get by without any livefood at all, however if breeding is to be attempted, a consistent live food supply is essential. Furthermore, the chances of breeding success are massively enhanced if your primary live food supply is termites. Melbas just love termites - the more the better. Even when not breeding they will always show a willingness to devour seemingly as many termites as you wish to provide. Given the strong correlation between a termite supply and numbers of young Melbas being successfully reared, we can use this supply to switch on and off the species' breeding drive at the time of year that suits us best.

I allow most of my finches to breed from early March through to late November. My local climate has fairly mild Winters where it can and does get subzero overnight temperatures with some morning frosts but these are usually followed by mild sunny days which allow the birds to quickly recover from the nightly chill. The Summers are hot and humid - very taxing on both birds and birdkeeper so this is the best time to remove nest sites and materials from the aviaries, cut back the grasses which grow in the aviaries and temporarily remove live food from the birds diet. By re-equipping the breeding aviaries and recommencing regular live food and green seed to the birds diet at the commencement of Autumn, this triggers an immediate breeding response at the best time to breed finches. Our local Autumns and Springs are just perfect finch breeding weather, especially Autumn. Pytilias generally prefer the warmer months to breed but mine are happy to go right through Autumn, Winter and Spring provided I keep up the termite supply.

The other finch diet basics are still obviously needed. My dry seed mix is 2 parts Red Pannicum and one part each of White-French, Plain Canary, and Jap millet. Of these, Melbas prefer the White-French Millet. Grits provided are Canunda shell, crushed cuttlebone, eggshells, and charcoal. I feed a tonic seed mix daily comprising numerous types of pasture, lawn and oilseeds. During the breeding season I feed termites at least twice a day, half-ripe green seed (mostly Green Panic and White-French Millet) twice a day, mealworms (only about 10 or 12 to each mixed aviary), sprouted seed and Lebanese cucumber once a day to each breeding aviary. Of these, the termites and a little green seed are all that Melbas require to successfully rear young. I know of other breeders who at times have successfully bred Melbas using maggots and/or mealworms as the main live food supply, however by far the best results are achieved with termites.

Melbas are generally not overtly aggressive to other finches, however whilst they have young they will tend to enforce their dominance at the live food tray so an extra dish may be required in order to ensure a fair supply for all who need it. Mature pairs will show aggression to other Melbas, therefore single pair per aviary is the only feasible breeding situation. If you have wire mesh partitions between aviaries, both sexes will fight with their neighbours if they are housed in adjoining aviaries. This doesn't usually result in serious damage but I still prefer to only house them every second aviary to avoid the distraction of such neighbourly disputes. They generally mix well with most other species notwithstanding the above-mentioned dominance of the live food dish, although some breeders have had the occasional aggressive individuals. In my view the key to ensuring that the species doesn't become aggressive to other species is to sparsely stock the breeding aviary, thereby ensuring that the birds are not pressured into aggressive situations by being crowded into competing for territory, nest sites & materials and live food supply. I prefer not to house them with rarer and more timid species to ensure that the placid ones don't have to compete heavily to get the live food they require. I generally mix mine with fairly boisterous species such as Red-faced Parrotfinches, Singers, Rufous-backed Mannikins and Grassfinches. They appear to be sufficiently genetically distinct from both Auroras and Red-faced Pytilias for them to be able to be safely housed together without hybridising.

The start of breeding efforts is signified by the male initiating the courtship ritual. The male will take a short length of nesting grass and fly to a prominent perch or clear patch of ground with a very audible clapping of his wings. He'll then commence a bowing dance while singing his beautiful delicate song to the female who if interested will angle her tail toward him and make a few smaller bows herself and a brief copulation usually concludes the show abruptly.

Despite the availability of various alternatives, my Melbas usually choose to nest in the bunches of prickly tea-tree which I place from floor height to ceiling height (8' or 2.4m) although sometimes they will nest in the tall clumps of seeding grasses growing in the flights. They usually prefer a higher position, rarely below waist height. The male constructs the overwhelming majority of the nest structure with dry grasses and the female may help slightly with some of the white feather nest lining.

Clutch size varies from 3 to 8, usually 4 or 5. I recommend against attempting nest inspections at any stage. This can only hinder the chances of a successful outcome. The incubation period is about a fortnight. The parents' behaviour will be a dead giveaway as to hatching time. Once young are present, the parents' eagerness for live food becomes frenzied and apparently insatiable. The first week after hatching is a critical period in which the need to be consistently vigilant in the supply of live food is paramount. If not, the parents won't hesitate to give you a none-too-subtle reminder by dumping the carcass of one of their dead young in a prominent position on the floor - normally just inside the aviary door - as if to say "Hey, lift your game or there'll be more". This aspect of breeding Melbas is a perfect illustration of a vital element of how to become a good aviculturist. That is to turn a disappointment or loss into a valuable lesson so that any such losses can be avoided in the future. Provided with adequate live food, Melbas make excellent parents. Apart from lack of live food in the early stages the next critical period is at fledging time at about 20 days after hatching. When young Melbas leave the nest they tend to spend the first few nights on the ground, so if the nights are cool it may be worth collecting any fledged young late afternoon and bring them into a warm room in a carry box overnight and return them to the aviary early the next morning. At fledging stage young Melbas usually have a prominent tuft of white down on their crown. They are predominantly grey with dull olive green back and wings, a short dull red tail, black beak and a white gape flourescence still evident. The begging call and posture of young Melbas is very distinctive. The young bird leans right down to ground level with its head kinked back upwards and to whichever side the parent is located, then continuously twists its head back and forth whilst emitting its bell-like tinkling begging call. This never fails to amuse and entertain me when I see it.

During a recent breeding season I noticed independent young Melbas from previous broods take on a significant role in feeding subsequent nests of young. I noticed this regularly with several rounds of young from one pair in particular. The independent young were so immersed in their new role they would fight with their mother at the termite dish for a fair allocation. When I first noticed a part-coloured young hen in the active nest of the breeding pair I chased it off and hoped its interference hadn't jeopardized the small young that were in the nest. So I immediately gave that aviary an extra feed of termites and watched to see that the parents still ate them and fed their young. I had intentions of then getting a net and removing the independent clutch of young (all hens). To my amazement the adult pair and the four young hens all took to the termite dish with equal vigour and at least two of the young birds went to the nest to feed the young immediately after both of the parents did so. The older young were the first nest of the season and that breeding pair produced four clutches of young for the season and with all three later rounds I noticed significant co-operative feeding. I should point out that this pair bred nearly all hens for the year and I never noticed either of the two young cocks helping in this way, although the adult cock was a very dominant bird and kept his sons on the outer once they were independent. Prior to this, I was firmly of the view that independent young Melbas should be fairly promptly removed from the breeding aviary for their own safety, but I suppose this just highlights two very important things about breeding finches. Firstly, we should always ensure that we observe what happens in our aviaries without being a nuisance to the birds. And secondly, we should never think that we totally understand all there is to know about our finches if we wish to continually improve our breeding outcomes.

All in all, Melbas are beautiful birds in both feather and character. A real pleasure to keep and breed. Well worth the effort to satisfy their appetite for termites. You be the judge -

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GRAHAM AND LEONIE BULL l COFFS HARBOUR, AUSTRALIA