Behavior

[THVCFINCHLADY]

Got a behavior question. We have an aviary at work. Currently 12 birds, 10 adults and two zebra babies that came out of the nest this week. When the babies are sitting on the perch, one of the society finches will sit on top of one of the babies The same bird did this to the last zebra babies we hatched. Is this typical behavior? I know the society finches "mother" the babies, regardless of if the babies belong to them or not.

[MiaCarter]

Yes, this is fairly typical behavior. You see it in all birds and even other animals.

My guess would be that it's a show of dominance. It's natural for the most dominant bird in a flock to have their choice of mates, and landing atop another bird or mounting another bird is a show of that dominance. (Similar to the way that dogs mount another dog - regardless of gender - to show dominance.)

You don't see it too often in society finches, as they're not a dominant species, but you can see unusually dominant individuals.

Am I correct to assume that the bird in question is a male?

It's occurring with the babies because they're new to the flock. So it's basically that society's way of saying "Welcome to the flock. I'm in charge here.....just so you know."
Sitting on another bird is also a way to get the bird to move. Again, usually involves the dominant male who wants to sit in his choice spot. It's his way of saying "You're in my spot. If you don't move, I'm just going to sit on top of you."

This shouldn't be confused with young fledglings landing/sitting on other birds who are perched. That occurs on occasion too, but it's not related to dominance. It's related to their lack of coordination and their newness to flying. Usually, they stop landing on others within a few days of fledging, once they get their in-flight coordination all sorted!

[THVCFINCHLADY]

Thanks for your reply. I have seen the babies land on the other birds when first learning.

Don't know if the offending finch is a male, but the babies are the ones who usually get sat upon. Guess it's kind of a rude introduction to the clan.

[cindy]

Societies love to pile on top of each other and sit... they will clump together and pile in a nest or cup and sit together. It is almost like watching people try to crowd into a VW to see how many will fit. Societies are very social and tend to mob on top and close together.

[Sally]

monica@lovezebs I'm going to split these posts dealing with Monica's problem off into their own thread, so they don't get lost in this thread. I'll name it 'Parents Plucking Babies' and put it in the Breeding forum.