St Helena Waxbill Finch Female

Native to Africa they reside in Ethiopia, sudan and nigeria and some surrounding areas.  true to finch nature they are never far from water frequenting villages, cultivated areas and grassy fields.

Diet for the Saint Helena Waxbill

Seed– Feed your Saints a good quality finch mix especially if you desire to breed them.  Be wary of some supermarket mixes as they may be of low quality, if you are unsure of the seed you are using ask your local bird expert.

Sprouted seed– A great addition to the diet be sure to clean the sprouted seed thoroughly with aviclens to remove any bacteria before feeding to your birds.

Millet sprays– A fresh millet still on the stem loved by all finches

Greens– seeding grasses, endive, dandelion, cucumber and chickweed.

Vitamin supplement– important for the health and vitality of all finches this must be added via the water supply.

Live food– An important part of the saints diet especially when breeding use meal worms and fly pupae with a few pinches of wombaroo insectivore mix.

Egg and biscuit– an important supplement especially when breeding this can be fed dry or mixed with water.

Grit– use a good quality fine finch grit with charcoal, shell, baked egg shell, crushed cuttlebone and limestone.

Fresh drinking water

Sexing Saint Helena Finches

The male has more red on the belly than the female, also on the ventral area the male is black where the hen has a more brown colour.

Breeding Saint Helena Finches

Saint helena finches can be bred is either breeding cabinets or aviaries.  There breeding season is from september through to april.  These finches will breed in a variety of nesting places such as nest boxes or wicker nests.  It is important to supply nesting material such as swamp grass and feathers for them to line the nest with.