Bamboo Parrot Finch

BAMBOO PARROT FINCH
ERYTHRURA HYPERYTHRA

Lombok female & male © H.J de Vos

CLASSIFICATION
There are 8 different subspecies of the "hyperythra". Only the Bamboo and the Lombok are well known by our birdlovers.

Erythrura hyperythra hyperythra (Bamboo parrot finch)
Erythrura hyperythra intermedia (Lombok parrot finch)
Erythrura hyperythra malajana
Erythrura hyperythra borneensis
Erythrura hyperythra obscura
Erythrura hyperythra ernstmayri
Erythrura hyperythra microrhyncha
Erythrura hyperythra brunneiventris

All these species have, depending of their original habitat, small differences such as their size and their colour.

NATIVE HABITAT
They live on the Sunda Islands, the Philippines, Western Java, Celebes, Borneo and Malaysia.
These shy birds are seen on the borders of the forests and bamboo fields where they can find an abundance of seeds of bamboo and grass. They also like rice.
There is always a high humidity and in certain places temperatures rise to 25°C during the day with 0°C at night.
The breeding season is from March till June.

Lombok male © H.J de Vos

DESCRIPTION
Length: 11cm.
The male has a black and blue forehead. The top and back of the head, back of the neck, back, upper wing feathers and upper tail coverts are green.
Chin, throat, chest and abdomen are brown. They have a black beak and the feet are flesh-coloured.

The colors of the female are duller and she has brown and almost no blue on the head.

The Lombok is a bigger bird than the Bamboo, with the forehead of the male being dark blue and the forhead of the female blue.

Bamboo © H.J de Vos & W. Keijzer

AVICULTURAL NOTES
Bamboo parrot finches are satisfied with a good diet and also daily eggfood, soaked or germinated seed and pinkies.

Lombok 1 day old © E. Dowd

A small flight or an aviary is the ideal for these always-active birds. They are very tolerant towards other birds or members of the same species.
Bamboos don't react on the differences between summer and winter, but on wetness and dryness. The best stimulation you can give is to sprinkle them regularly and to provide daily bath water.

They make the nests with dry grass and cocofiber in all kinds of nestboxes, although they prefer to nest as high as possible and if possible behind some broom.
Male and female take turns during the brooding.
The 3-6 eggs will hatch in 14 days, and at the age of 25 days the youngsters will leave the nest. At 6 weeks they are independent but it can takes up to 8 months to have their full color.

Lombok 14 days old © E. Dowd

It's recommended to give a multivitamin on a regular basis and give attention to disturb the birds as little as possible because they can suddenly fall into moult.

MUTATIONS
No mutations are known although a pied bamboo already exists. The bird has yellow in the wings but more information isn't known.

ATTENTION
Birds have been imported from different origin which makes that all Bamboos and Lomboks aren't similar.