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When you keep birds, it is good to have ambitions about species you want to keep at some stage. For me the Purple Grenadier is on the list and I’ve promised myself that I will try them once I have mastered their cousins, the Blue Capped Waxbill. They are definitely for the more experienced keeper and are a bit notorious for their lack of parental abilities. But they certainly have the looks!
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Colourful family
The Purple Grenadier (Uraeginthus Ianthinogaster) is a member of the genus Uraeginthus within the Estrildidae family that features four other stunning birds – the blue waxbill, the blue capped waxbill, the red cheeked cordon-bleu and the violet eared waxbill. All the birds are either blue or purple as their main colour and all are found in aviculture, though in varying numbers.
One great thing about this species is that it is sexually dimorphic – male and female birds look different so sexing is easy. The male is brown in colour with a red beak, a black tail and vivid purple markings around the eyes, the breast, belly, flanks and around the rump. The female has spots or bars on the brown breast and has white feathers around the eyes. Juveniles tend to be a paler version of the adult with a black beak.
These birds are found across sub-tropical and tropical dry shrubland areas in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. They tend to live in pairs or small parties that separate up when breeding season comes around. Their normal habitats include areas with thorn scrub, acacia plants and even in areas with open shrub landscape.
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By Bjørn Christian Tørrissen [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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By DickDaniels (http://carolinabirds.org/) (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
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Keeping the Purple Grenadier
These birds can live with other finches peaceful, apart other members of the family such as the blue capped waxbill. Occasionally, some breeders have noticed aggression towards others with red beaks but this is less common than with their cousins.
Grenadiers are typical African finches – they cannot withstand the northern hemisphere climate without help during colder months. They need to be in a temperature around 18 degrees although some may become used to a little lower temperature. So, an aviary needs to be heated and protected from the weather to winter them.
These birds like to forage on the floor for food so this can make them prone to intestinal parasites. Therefore, regular worming is a good idea to reduce the risk that they pick up something from the floor while feeding.
There are a few options for feeding these birds including the foreign finch mixes and now several specialist waxbill mixes. In the wild they eat grass seeds so either adding these to a mix or using a mix that features them helps mimic their nature diet. They also enjoy egg food, greens such as kale and broccoli and can be offered treat seeds as well as fresh fruit. Grit, cuttlefish or similar calcium sources should be offered.
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Breeding
The reason that the Purple Grenadier is considered a challenge is that the birds are difficult to breed and the chicks are often given to foster parents to rear. Birds should be at least one year old before breeding is attempted and a warm, well planted aviary is a good location. Keep them out of sight of other pairs as this can cause a distraction. A live food heavy diet should be provided around one month before breeding to prepare the birds.
Nests are made with coconut fibre, dried grasses and feathers to line. 3-5 eggs are laid and incubated for 12-14 days. Live food needs to be available throughout for the parents to feed the chicks.
The parents stop brooding the chicks at night at around 9 days so if the aviary isn’t warm enough, chicks will die. They fledge at around 21 days but return to the nest at night for around a week or two and are weaned by around five weeks old. Their juvenile moult tends to take place around 35 days old.
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Further Reading
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More on Waxbills
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having just bought a pairof grenadier waxbill the cock is bullying the hen so much I had to separate them,the last owner told me about this and says the hen in return after a little while will do the same to the cock, and will pluck each other badly,is this normal or is this because they are not compatible,my violet eared waxbills get on exelently can you advise me,i have kept all kinds of birds but this is the first time I have seen this so badly.the last owner says the hen as layed eggs with this cock, thank you bill,
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