fabric in bath water

[lukeandhan]

We have two male zebra finches, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. They both love to play in and decorate their two nests. We put out a few pieces of cotton fabric for them about once a week and they spend hours flying from nest to nest, transferring fabric. Every single day, without fail, they put at least one piece of fabric in their bathtub (after their baths). My daughter thinks they are using them as towels. But it's just such a quirky, cute thing to do and we were wondering if anyone has any idea why they are doing it. Is this common behavior? We haven't been able to find it in any book or online. We just want to make sure that it's quirky/cute and not an indication that we are doing something wrong, like giving them too much fabric. Thank you in advance for any comments!

[L in Ontario]

I doubt you are giving them too much though I haven't heard specifically of giving them any fabric. I believe they are probably trying to "soften" it (even though it may already by soft). My finches do this with cocofibre and other nesting material too.

[franny]

Mine also do this, with hay, or coco fibre, too. I think in the wild they do this to make nesting material more malleable for shaping the nest. So it's just instinctual to do it with what ever material they have at hand. Glad they are having fun.