Behaviour and displays of affection

I have been doing some reading up on the behaviour of the waxeyes today to see what I should be watching for.  It seems that I have already been witnessing courtship behaviour.  We have several established pairs in our flock and all the books say that paired waxeyes are very affectionate to each other. Lots of mutual preening (which I have already seen) and huddling close to each other.

Today in one of the trees I could see at least three pairs huddling together and preening each other. I couldn't get a great shot because of where they were and the bad lighting but trust me when I say there was a lot of canoodling going on in that tree! Hopefully next spring we will have lots of fluff ball chicks as a result.

Numbers are still increasing so I think word is getting around that there is food here on a regular basis. Lucky for the birds we are going to have someone house sitting for us and feeding them when we go away later in the year.  Having gotten them so used to coming here when their food supply is low, I don't think it is fair to just leave them unattended for any length of time. That would just be too cruel.

Displaying affection and mutual preening.