Passerina leclancherii leclancherii

(Lafresnaye, 1840)

Order                 :Passeriformes

Family               :Cardinalidae

Genus                :Passerina

Species              :Leclancherii

Subspecies         :Grandior

Explanation of the name:

The name comes from a French explorer, C.R.A. Leclancher.

Description:

The Rainbow Bunting measures 13 to 14 cm (5 to 5,5 inches). The male has a bright blue back and head, an orange chest, yellow belly and green upper part of the head. The female is a less coloured version of the male. A young male looks like a female. After 3 to 6 months, the chest starts to colour bright yellow and the head becomes blue. The females takes several years to get her final colours. So, in contrary to the other Passerinas, the genus can be determined quickly and the female takes some years to get her adult colours.

Habitat:

The Rainbow Bunting lives in a small area, namely the Mexican Dry Broadleaf Forest along the Southern Pacific. It’s an endemic bird that remains in that area and does not migrate. The weather is dry and hot during the whole year and seasons are hard to distinguish. As a consequence, it has to be acclimatized to our weather conditions very carefully. They don’t like moisture but once acclimized, they are strong birds that support European temperatures. Some writers claim the bird needs temperatures higher than 10° and extra heath during the whole year. We think this is not correct.

Behaviour:

The Rainbow Bunting is a fearful bird that feels comfortable in the low bushes, the edge of forests and near fresh water. He feeds with seeds, plants, flowers and insects during the whole year.

In captivity be becomes a calm bird if the breeder spents some time in the aviary on a daily basis and if he gives some insects or fruit while he remains in the aviary.

Breeding in the wild:

The female makes the open-cup nest near to the ground in a bush. It lays 3 to 4 eggs. The length of incubation is 12 days. The length to fledge is approximately 11 days. Normally it has 2 to 3 broods. The young birds are fed with insects.

Breeding in captivity:

Breeding results are rare but have been atteined in France, England, Germany and Belgium.

The best way to get breeding results is to keep one couple in a cage. You can keep them together with other birds provided there are no other Passerinas (males). They like plants to hide and sleep in. Also,  plants attract insects which they need during the whole year. Breeding results have been atteined in small cages, so it is possible, provided the birds are calm and used to live in the cage.

Once they were imported frequently. Nevertheless, few breeders have obtained breeding results. At the moment, a handful of breeders in Europe are responsible to keep this bird in aviculture and have to cooperate. Otherwise the bird will disappear. So, if you know breeders or birders that have one bird in their cages, tell them about the European Passerina Studygroup!