FINCHforum

Hi everyone,

I'm curious to know what it was like when you got your first finch (or finches).

What kind did you get? What were their names? Why did you get them? What special memories do you have of them? Were they the first birds you ever had as pets? I'd love to hear your stories!

Sincerely,
Megan

jehoshabeath , I got my first finches for my 13th bday. The birds I have now are my first. . There names are Phineas and Ferb.

They are great societies.

Wow, what a special birthday present! Did you ask for them or were they a surprise?

My aunt is Ginene , and when she got finches, I really started to like them. It took a lot of begging for my parents to say yes to getting finches, but they finally said ok. My aunt bred her societies and she gave me 2 of the babies.

I was lucky to get birds from someone I knew and trusted. Very important in finch shopping.

Wow, that's so neat What a blessing!

jehoshabeath

I had budgies years ago, then Canaries, finches, Canaries again, then Lovebirds for twenty years or more.

Then in the Fall of 2013, I bought myself a Canary. That seemed to start the snow ball rolling, and it hasn't stopped since.

Zebras, Societies, and that was just the begining...

~Elana~

My first bird was a green budgie called Joey. I was 12 or 13. A couple of years later my parents allowed me to keep pigeons and my father built me a large coop. But it turned out that I was allergic to the seed dust. An asthma attack landed me in hospital, so that was the end of the pigeon keeping.

But I was determined to keep birds and decided (much to my parents consternation) to try keeping just a few smaller birds. So I bought a pair of zebra finches and I was fine. I then built another cage for a pair of canaries. After leaving home and in the following 30+ years I've nearly always had either canaries or finches (or both).

I had a canary and then a parakeet when I was in my early teens, and then no more birds till I was in my 20's. I was visiting my parents, who were living in Germany at the time. They took me to a department store because they wanted me to see the tiniest birds they'd ever seen--a group of various African waxbills. I fell in love, and set about collecting them. I had a pair of RCCBs, a pair of Gray Singers, and now I can't remember what else. I eventually had to give them up, as I was a flight attendant then and was gone too much.

When I retired in 2006, I happened to see some Zebra finches at a feed store, and I was lost, I had to have some. Over 100+ birds later, I am truly addicted.

My first birds were a chocolate pied male society, a female spice, and a female diamond dove, all purchased from PetSmart. They were my introduction to finches, and I fell in love with their tenacious little personalities. All my current birds, with the exception of my original diamond dove who is still with me, have come from private breeders that I know personally.

Thanks so much for sharing, everyone!

lovezebs, it sounds like you’ve had many lovely birds over the years No one in my family has birds, but I recently learned that my great-great Grandmother kept canaries! My Grandmother told me about them and that they sang so beautifully.

GlennO, it’s so nice that you could keep birds since you were young. I’m sorry to hear about the asthma attack that you had, though - that must have been so scary. My mother and brother have been hospitalized for asthma and it's really scary. But I’m glad that you were ok and have been able to keep other birds since then.

Sally, it’s so interesting to hear your story! I’m glad that you can finally have birds again after many years of working and travel. Are RCCBs red cheeked cordon bleus? I love the color of the cordon bleus

Kiishka, it sounds like you started with a nice group of birds And it’s great that you know a breeder who has helped you get birds since then.

jehoshabeath yep,RCCB means red cheek cordon bleus. :ad

Any luck so far with getting some societies?

Thanks, delray!

Not yet ;) I've been in contact with a local breeder who has two fledgling societies right now. He said that he waits to sell societies until they've gone through their adult molt. Since that's such a stressful time for them, they don't need the additional stress of moving to a new home. I thought that made a lot of sense. He did send me pictures, though, so I got to see them. They look kind of puffy with their baby feathers. Aww, they are sweet So maybe closer to spring I will be able to get societies!

jehoshabeath that's awesome. Can't wait to see the pictures.

I had canaries, and budgies before but not finches until I saw a little star finch, Fruit, in a pet store. He had been left on his own for months and months, so I took him home. Then I got a Zebrafinch female, Queenie, and its kind of continued from there....

Fruit lived for 7 years....Queenie unfortunately got eggbound about a year later and I had to have her put down, but I've had several star finches and Zebrafinches and loved them all....


Zebrafincher

Thanks so much for sharing, Zebrafincher.

I've never seen a Star Finch in person, but I just looked up some pictures online. They're beautiful! I'm glad that you bought Fruit and gave him a good home along with your other birds