FINCHforum

Hi, my name is Tony, I'm new to this site and this is my first post.
Can someone tell me the name of this pair of finches? Thank you.

Hi Tony, and welcome, welcome. They are Zebra finches. I'm sure someone else, like Nagdabit, will chime in with the actual specific color. Seems to me to be a normal and a fawn. Good luck.

They are beautiful Zebras, Tony and WELCOME to the Finch Forum!

http://www.efinch.com/varieties.htm

This is a link with pictures of some of the zebra mutations.

It looks to me like you have two males there.

Welcome to the forum ,if you fill in your profile with where you live it makes it a lot easier to answer questions sometimes ,have you checked out the finch information center there is a lot of good reading there
http://www.finchinfo.com/index.php

Could they have been kept with other birds that look like this? These are Goldbreasts, but also known as Orangebreasts. Maybe someone got confused and mistook the zebras for Orangebreasts.

Here is a link to the Orange Breasted Zebra... you do not have
http://www.zebrafinch.com/newzebra/orangebreast.html

One of your males looks to be a recessive silver..a post of example
http://www.efinch.com/species/rszeb.htm

The other finch looks to be a male also but can not see it clearly.

DVBourassa wrote:
It looks to me like you have two males there.

Based on the cheek patches and dark orange/red beaks...? Good catch, Dianne!

Thank you for the warm welcome. Didn't buy them for the type of Zebra but for there looks. Never had finches before and enjoying them very much. If they do turn out to be both males I will be disappointed. would liked to have one clutch. Didn't think they were Orange Breasted just wanted to know the type. Was hoping for a definite outcome. Very confusing breed at least to me. Here are a few more pics.


Tony

I, also, think you have two males. It's okay, just buy 2 females. That's how most of us started out. Two today, two hundred next year! J/K They are nice looking birds, good luck with them. Keep us posted. Nice pics.

What is the big give away in determining sex. I went to a bird show when I bought these and was assured they were a pair. From supposedly capable breeders. How do I know I'll be getting females. I've put a breeding box in their cage to see what happens. Will decide what to do later. Thanks for the info.



Tony

It's the orange cheek patch.

Females (there are exceptions) don't have cheek patches.
Females have lighter colored beaks than males.
Females lack the chestnut feathers under the wings.
Females have a call beep, beep...males have a beep a beep a bepp, beep, chirpa, chirp beep beep


I see in your pictures that the bird does have cheek patches...it could still be a female as some are breed for this...yet very expensive/rare. Also it looks like a very red beak. Though this could be distorted via the color in the monitor. I do notice the lacking of the chestnut flanked side feathers...though some males in certain mutations lack these also, leading to confusion.
It looks like you have CFW. Recessive silvers or very possibly a mix. Without knowing the backgrounds it would be hard to tell.
Maybe call the breeder you bought them from, if you happened to have gotten his info and call to find out what they are.
Or research the many sites. Google zebra finch mutations. You can find many mutations, crosses and the such. It would at least give you some sound information on other stuff too. Like breeding, diet, housing and the such since you want to breed. The FIC to the left has information on these also. Good luck on your Zebra pursuits

Tony

Is there any way you can post the pics via photobucket or the like? Paul (pooh) laid out an excellent tutorial here... http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4553

Need to see some details with a little more clarity and magnification so as to make a more accurate guess as to mutation and sex of your birds.

Thanks

The one that looks like a female probably is a fawn cheek female zebra. But more pics are needed of the front of the bird.