FINCHforum

Hello everyone. Im thinking of getting a pair of African silver bills. I thought that id like to have finches that sing a pleasant song that's not too loud. From the videos I've seen the silver bills seem to have a "Disney" quality to their song. Do they rank very high among a other finch lovers.? Whats the best and worst about them?

I had a hybrid Indian-African Silverbill named Silva.

She was really wonderful. Sadly, she passed away after just a couple months. I was sad to see her go as she was very sweet. A bit flighty, but very friendly and easy-going overall. She got along with everyone -- zebras, a society, gouldians, parakeets and a cockatiel.

She was very social.
She let out single chirps here and there. But she never sang. For this reason, I assume I had a female. A male would be more vocal. (That's the one issue with this species - they're hard to sex.)

I've never had a super vocal silverbill; nothing that qualifies as Disney-ish.
The one finch with a Disney quality vocalization would be my Pintail Whydah! He's nonstop twittering and tweeting! It's just a constant stream of audible avian delight. (I'm happy to record him if you'd like to hear.) He's a bit pushy but lovely otherwise.

I had a few silverbills for a time. My male had a BEAUTIFUL song that was so unique and varied. He was a hybrid - the two hens were Africans. The pair got very aggressive when nesting but were otherwise very sociable with the other birds. I ended up trading the pair off and only kept a single hen - she never did bond to another bird but seemed a very happy loner and passed away in an accident shortly after that. She was a real character, so cheery and always twittering and flitting about.