newbie and aggressive behaviour

pedro · New Member Joined: Jan 04, 2015 Posts: 3

I grew up with these birds wild on the east coast of northland nz and have acquired some here in Oz. I have three pairs in an aviary 6m long by 2.5m wide and 3m high. All three pairs are laying in their favorite hollow log nest boxes but after 4 months one male has started aggressively hounding the other males to the point where today he killed one. the aggressor is a clear eyed yellow, his mate a pied , the other s are normal greens .They share the aviary with 4 diamond doves ,2 taplacoti doves and 4 zebra finches.
Am I going to be forced to house these pairs separately... any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

that size.. 6m long from our experiments quite a long time back.. that was getting into around the min size for 2 pair... IF the nesting boxes and surrounding area of the nesting boxes where not in line of sight of each other

If u watch the other birds u may find they will tend to stay away from the nesting boxes when the female is out or male close by. Even so , the could also get attacked.

A suggestion .. something we did... build a frame in 2 halves and hinged that fits internally into the aviary and when folded fits thru the external doors.
This becomes a internal partition/ door.
Our aviary frames are wood.. so to attach it was just 4 or 5 3"x 1" ply tags screwed in place to hold the partition/ door in place

Where on the east coast did u have the kakariki wild?

pedro · New Member Joined: Jan 04, 2015 Posts: 3

thanks for that advice.....
I lived in Leigh so I guess the odd pairs came across from Little Barrier Island. It was great to be fishing,last year anchored close by the Barrier and hearing the red fronts going off in the early morning.

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

I know Leigh , Pakariki well...There have been small struggling flocks around that area going back as far as I know at least 1920s...along with the rare NZ bat.