Ruddies are one of 10 Firefinch species comprising the Lagonosticta genus (or 9 or 11 depending on your taxonomic school of thought) which are all native to various parts of Africa. Of the Firefinches, Ruddies have by far the largest natural range which encompasses most of tropical and southern sub-tropical Africa. Within its wild range the species has readily adapted to various habitat types including areas of human habitation such as cultivated areas as well as rural villages & towns often venturing very close to human dwellings. This natural adaptability has served the species well in adapting to captivity. There are 9 recognized subspecies each originating from a different corner of Africa and each exhibiting slight physical differences with noticeable variation in body colour & spotting on both sexes. Australia's original imports comprised at least a handful of these subspecies. This has resulted in a robust and genetically varied breeding population as well as providing considerable scope for selective breeding to significantly improve on any of the variable physical attributes of the species. I generally select for enhanced spotting on both sexes, particularly hens. Hens carry far more and larger white spots than cocks and some specimens carry spots right across the chest as well as the flanks. In terms of body colour, I prefer golden brown hens rather than the more bronze ones. I also like to see some red suffusion through the brown areas on hens. This red wash is particularly prominent in the cinnamon mutation.

Their aviary requirements are easily satisfied. Large or small aviaries are both suitable for housing and breeding Ruddies. More important than aviary size is the need for a warm and dry enclosure. Another vital environmental key for maximising breeding results is to not overstock the breeding aviary. A planted aviary is certainly not essential however they particularly enjoy fossicking for seeds and hunting for insects in a planted enclosure. When planting out finch aviaries I like to keep the aviary floor open to sunlight so I plant my aviaries quite sparsely. Overplanted aviaries tend to create permanently cool shady areas which are far more difficult to maintain dry conditions. I also prefer perennial seeding grasses rather than shrubs as they provide seed heads for the birds to eat in addition to their habitat value. Grasses may also be cut right off at ground level annually thus reinvigorating growth and seeding for the following season while also allowing a complete aviary cleanup.

Dietary needs are typical foreign finch fare. Basic maintenance diet should include dry seed finch mix, grit items (cuttlebone, eggshells, & fine shellgrit), occasional greens (seeding grasses &/or Lebanese cucumber) and water. This diet is insufficient for breeding birds and should only be used for short-term holding of birds or the off-season austerity period if you use one. With the seed mix Ruddies (and most of the other smaller waxbills) have a distinct preference for the Pannicums especially Red Pannicum, so I recommend adding extra Red Pannicum to your mix or placing a separate bowl of it in the aviary. I mix all my own seed and my basic finch mix is 2 parts Red Pannicum and 1 part each of White-French Millet, Plain Canary, and Jap Millet.

Ruddies may be bred with the addition of high protein softfood powders or mixtures to their diet, however to maximise breeding results some form of live insect food fed regularly is recommended. Ruddies will breed quite well when fed maggots &/or mealworms as their main source of live food, however for consistently outstanding breeding results termites are highly recommended as the primary live food supply. If you can possibly obtain termites I can confidently assure you that any extra effort required to do so will generally be rewarded with additional young finches bred. I feed live termites twice a day so that they are constantly available to my breeding birds. In addition to live food, a regular supply of half-ripe grass seed is a typical breeding trigger and rearing food for most finches, however Ruddies are not as heavily dependent on green seed as most other finches - they tend to depend more heavily on live insects as their main rearing food. I provide green seed, sprouted seed and Lebanese cucumber daily to all my aviaries and Ruddies will take small quantities of each especially when they are feeding young. The crucial key with the feeding of breeding foods is to be consistent.

Another extra which I find Ruddies do especially enjoy is a pasture seed and lawn seed mix which I feed daily to all my birds. This is a mixture of numerous types of sub-tropical and temperate pasture and lawn grass seeds containing about 25 types of seed at last count. To obtain these seeds I simply bought a portion of every small-grained seed I could find at rural produce stores and specialty bird suppliers. Extreme care was taken to ensure that none of the seeds were chemically coated prior to purchase. A little trial & error sorted out the most favoured seed types and these now comprise a larger proportion of the mix. Within reason you can do no wrong as far as which of these seeds to provide but examples such as Phalaris, any of the Panics, Purple Pigeon grass, Signal grass, Carpet grass and Kentucky Bluegrass are all excellent ingredients for such a mix. Some of these are quite expensive and may be seasonally difficult to obtain but with such a mix a little bit goes a long way.

Ruddies will attempt to breed at any time of year if their diet and aviary conditions suit them. I allow mine to breed between early March and late November and give them (and myself) a break during the hot December to February period. During this time I stop regular live food and green seed feeds, cut back all the grasses growing in the breeding aviaries and remove all brush and nest receptacles and give the aviaries a good clean out. By providing my breeding birds with such a break each year I believe this contributes to extending the useful breeding life of your adult birds by concentrating their breeding efforts on the best time of year to breed finches (locally Autumn & Spring) and giving them a break during a time when breeding attempts would place great stress on the birds (hot Summer or cold Winter depending on where you live).

Of all the finches available to Australian aviculturists, Ruddies would be second only to the Zebra finch as the species to reach sexual maturity at a young age. I have often paired up part-coloured young Ruddies only to have them immediately commence successful breeding well before the male attains adult plumage. It has to be said though that they are also a relatively short-lived finch and most pairs' breeding results will significantly drop off after 3 seasons.

Preferred nest sites are either tea-tree or similar dense brush or small enclosed cane nest baskets. They will sometimes also use wooden finch nest boxes or other similar nest receptacles. Their definite preference is for a low nest site, usually below waist height so when fitting out the aviary place some brush &/or cane nest baskets in lower positions as well as higher ones for other species. The male Ruddy builds the nest. For nesting material they love plenty of feathers as well as fine grasses and are one of few finches to use darker coloured feathers (most finches only like white ones) - Emu feathers are perfect.

Clutch size is usually 3 or 4. I have had a few nests of 5 young but not very often. Incubation is shared by both sexes and lasts 12-13 days. Once the young hatch, the parents' eagerness for live food intensifies. Both parents also share feeding of the young. Young Ruddies usually fledge at about 18 days old. At this stage they are usually well-developed with a black bill, noticeable white and blue gape flourescence and often a small tuft of pale down still on the crown. Body colour of fledglings is brown all over with the exception of a short dull-red tail. Young are usually fully independent at 2 weeks after fledging, however I don't remove young from the breeding aviary until at least 4 weeks just to ensure they are robust enough to do well in the holding aviaries. My breeding pairs usually produce 4 clutches in the March to November breeding period.

Given that Ruddies especially like to fossick on the ground and are an insectivorous species, basic preventative health standards of regular treatment for intestinal worms and coccidiosis are important. I drench my finches for worms every 3 months and for coccidiosis immediately following periods of wet weather. With this basic preventative treatment regime in place I find Ruddies to be very hardy. In the past I have had the odd individual show the gasping symptoms associated with air sac mite which has been effectively treated with Ivomectin.

Established colour mutations include Pied, Pink and Cinnamon. The modes of inheritence for these mutations are autosomal recessive for Pied and Pink and sex-linked recessive for Cinnamon. Well-marked Pied specimens can look quite striking but there are many lesser quality Pieds to each good one. To be brutally honest I find the Pink mutation to be significantly less attractive than the normal Ruddy. The Cinnamon mutation is a much more attractive mutation albeit not vastly different to the normal bird.

With an array of desirable features as an aviary bird combined with the fact that they are readily available at a relatively inexpensive price tag, Ruddies represent outstanding value when considering a finch species to suit the budding or experienced finch breeder.