Male/female Society?

[Rae2]

I am new at owning finches. As stated in previous posts, I have what I think is a female society. I got last week, what I was told was a male to be her companion. They get along great! Seem to be very happy together, always preening each other and giving little finch kisses.

I have read that either sex will get along and will act as a bonded pair. I love these birds, but so far, no singing from the 'male'. They act totally the same, make the same noises, small little chirps, but I have read the male will puff out his neck, hold his head high, and sing his little heart out.

Is it possible I have two females? Are there males that do not sing? Would it hurt to try for another male? Would three birds live as peaceful and happy as a pair? Does a male sing just to get a mate, and then stop if female is wth him?
I really want a male. I have no desire to breed. But I want a male to enjoy the singing. That being said, I really love the birds, and regardless of if I never hear them sing, I will enjoy them.

Also, I have the single flight HQ cage. Love this cage! Love the birds!But... I do not love the seeds on my floor at all times! Is there a seed guard that will fit this cage? Any recommedations on how to limit the amount of seeds that end up outside the cage?

Thanks again for the help, hope you don't get tired of answering questions from a novice. I am sure I will have more, but my goal is to keep my birds as happy as I can.. and me too!

[EmilyHurd]

If you are new to owning finches and you really want to breed them, I would have purchased zebras.

Societies can be fairly hard to sex. Many times I try and make sure to purchase a female society first, as the sales are easier or me to sexl

[tammieb]

It's possible you have a quiet male. Try moving one of the birds to another room of the house and see if one doesn't begin to sing.

Three would get along okay, Societies are very social and rarely fight.

To limit the seed mess I recommend you check out the seed hoppers TammyS. sells. They work great.

[plantsandbirds]

Congratulations on your HQ flight cage! I have the single and Steve Pax has the double. I have the seed hoppers that Tammie S sells....they do help a LOT.

Because my little birds are so active I still end up vacuuming at lease twice a day, especially if I give them millet sprays .

[StevePax]

I have 4 societies in my cage. I have no idea which are males and which are females. I can say that it would be highly improbable for me to not have a single male among them. However, I also don't really hear them sing. I have never seen the puffed up singing posture (though I'm not really in there watching them all that often - just listening to happy chirps from the rest of the house). I think that sometimes they just don't really have a purpose to sing. TammieB will remember that both of us have/had male cordon bleus who never sang a note until their mates died - then they began to sing their hearts out. Mine still sings quite a bit - at least once a day. Never did before the death of his mate, though. If he doesn't have a reason to sing, maybe he won't sing.

As for the mess - you can try several things. Use the seed hoppers from justbirdstuff.com (as mentioned by others. Or, just put your seed cups on the floor of the cage, right in the middle of the floor, rather than on the wall of the cage or higher up. Another way is to convert your birds to eating pellets - there is a lot less mess this way.

Good luck!

[EmilyHurd]

I have also noticed that the more birds you have the harder it is to hear a specific bird sing. You have to watch them for several hours and try to see...

[punky_2_cute]

But isn't there another way to know if it is a male or not? And is sionging and peeping the same thing?

[Hilary]

For societies you have to listen for singing to determine if it's male. All of them are otherwise pretty vocal.