For Lady CN, the metabolic cost of the pre-breeding molt, the energy expansion during the frantic building of the nest and the depletion of nutrients from the body for egg accretion were all put to waste, so far. There are a myriad of possible causes for her pre-matured terminations of the reproductive process. They may be due to some complex physiological or psychological issues. As an average hobbyist, it will be beyond my resources to ascertain the exact cause or the combination of factors that could have led to this self-defeating disorder. However, there are also some areas which are within my means, that may be well worth examining before proceeding with this final attempt.
There is always the possibility of a nutritional deficit but judging from the result of the pre-breeding molt as well as from the visual assessment of her general health, this had seemed to be unlikely. There is however, a likelihood that we may be dealing with an exceptionally sensitive specimen here. She may be one of those birds that will require very careful and thorough preparations prior to breeding. Complacency, induced by the ease of breeding other females, may have resulted in the lack of attention paid to the minute details during the preparations for her, hence the failed attempts so far. With this in mind, the following extra steps were taken prior to pairing her up for this final attempt.
1) Lady CN was well rested and acclimatized to the surroundings of her breeding ground:
She had undergone 2 complete and good molts since the last attempt was made to breed her, the latest of which was in her present location. This should ensure that she is sufficiently rested and well acclimatized to the environmental influences of the breeding ground.
2) The introduction of the pair was done very carefully:
Lady CN was the first to be placed into the breeding aviary while Funkie was being transferred from his molting aviary to a bamboo cage. For the next few days, the bamboo cage was hung next to the breeding aviary to allow for close visual contact. This arrangement is to ensure that Lady CN will not be forced into breeding too abruptly. Physical introduction was made only after careful observations to confirm that she is ready to be bred. I have reasons to suspect that in the captive environment, very often, copulation is still possible even though the female is not fully ready. The act of copulation by itself, will stimulate egg formation and laying. In such instances, the maternal hormones may yet to be in full swing and it is anyone's guess if this could be a cause for some of the maternal destructive behaviors in captivity. It is also anyone's guess if such destructive behaviors are able to develop into a habit.
3) Thoughts were given to provide for an environment most conducive to the breeding of an understory species:
Their breeding aviary was placed in the side porch of the house, where it is also well sheltered from the strong winds. A length of black agricultural netting was draped around the porch to reduce the penetration of sunlight into this area. Even this had somehow, seemed to be insufficient. So another layer of the black netting was also used to wrap around the sides of the breeding aviary. The inside of the nest box, around the area where the nest will be build, was painted black to emulate the much darkened environment inside of their natural nesting cavities.
...to be continued
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