sexing societies....

adiekaty · Post by **adiekaty** » Tue May 05, 2009 5:27 pm

well it's been awhile since i've been here... Hope everyone is well...
I have added more to the aviary since we last chatted....

12 birds now...
pair of zeb's (3 babies just fledged)
1 spice
6 societies

Question is.... have a society pair that was on eggs when I purchased them. (none hatched) thats ok though... The female is crested and beautiful. She is starting the nest building again along with the male, but today she started singing and bobbing like the male does... Is this even possible? I know the eggs were theirs (only birds in the cage at the time) but she now is singing like him....
what are your thoughts and has anyone heard of this?

Also, sometimes she looks like she is trying to swallow something thats stuck.. maybe like a twisting of the head sorta... Whats the deal with that?

Sometimes one of the boys has his beak open alot when hw=e is sitting on the eggs.. Is that normal too?

The zeb's are doing great in there with the others.. Is it ok to have a lone spice? no idea what sex it is... the petstore only had 1.

Thanks so much for listening to my rambling....
Adrienne

Finch Fry · Post by **Finch Fry** » Tue May 05, 2009 11:27 pm

If the society is singing, its a boy. Nest building is also done by the boy, furthering the case that its a boy. The egg came from elsewhere.

No clue on the trying to swallow thing...

Opening their beak is basically them showing you they are aware of your presence and they dont like it. Finches get a bit more aggressive when they are in the breeding cycle and this is just the finch showing you that he/she is ready to protect their eggs. They will cry out too if you get much closer.

Typically I would say no to mix the zebs with anything but zebs. I would watch them as they may pick on the others... but this is most likely going to be related to their container size. How big is the cage they are in. If its small, i would expect for you to have some issues with the zebs. If its big enough with enough cover, you should be ok... just keep an eye out for feather plucking and chasing.

Hope this helps!

adiekaty · Post by **adiekaty** » Wed May 06, 2009 8:23 am

Thanks.... The aviary is 4x4x8... Plenty of cover in there... lots of nest, branches and greenery.

When the egg was layed, it was only the 1 pair in a small cage.
So one of those two is a girl... but they both sing... idk....

the swallowing thing is like a side twist of the nech... over and over again... i have read on here something about that. but at the time didnt pay much attention, cause I didnt ahve a bird that did that..
I will try to find it.

Thanks..
Adrienne