single or pair?

lisamariebrom · Post by **lisamariebrom** » Thu May 29, 2008 11:50 am

In my aviary I have mostly pairs, but I do have 2 single birds, do you think its ok to have a single pair (no mates) I do not breed any of my birds, do any of you keep some single birds with your paired ones? My singles right now are a female gould. and a male star.

rkn · Post by **rkn** » Thu May 29, 2008 1:27 pm

I into finches but am way hooked! I now have 12 birds but it includes 8 different species. Only species i will never house again are zebras...too much bad behavior for the passive group I have. Anyway I do have several single gentlemen...all are fine and sign amongst themselves. I think the one who is upset about not having a mate is my male owl. I am hoping to get him one soon! Otherwise all seems peaceful in bird land here.

rkn
ps..I found the species compatibility list VERY helpful and actually have a copy in my purse should i find a finch am unfamilar with. I wish i would have done that first off and would have saved me rehoming two zebra pairs...live and learn.

rkn · Post by **rkn** » Thu May 29, 2008 1:28 pm

I into finches but am way hooked! I now have 12 birds but it includes 8 different species. Only species i will never house again are zebras...too much bad behavior for the passive group I have. Anyway I do have several single gentlemen...all are fine and sign amongst themselves. I think the one who is upset about not having a mate is my male owl. I am hoping to get him one soon! Otherwise all seems peaceful in bird land here.

rkn
ps..I found the species compatibility list VERY helpful and actually have a copy in my purse should i find a finch am unfamilar with. I wish i would have done that first off and would have saved me rehoming two zebra pairs...live and learn.

lisamariebrom · Post by **lisamariebrom** » Thu May 29, 2008 2:11 pm

I think thats a great idea keeping a list in your purse...I'm going to do that...We have a bird show coming up in 3 weeks, I can hardly wait, and the list will be handy.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Thu May 29, 2008 6:46 pm

lisamariebrom wrote:I think thats a great idea keeping a list in your purse...I'm going to do that...We have a bird show coming up in 3 weeks, I can hardly wait, and the list will be handy.

If you can find a mate for your star you should get him one. I used to have my male alone and now that he has a mate is so happy. They are adorable and so in love!

Post by **Sally** » Fri May 30, 2008 12:02 am

My community flight has lots of single birds, but they usually buddy up with someone. I try to keep a close eye on it, as I am constantly adding a bird, or swapping out, so the population is never static. There is a greater chance of problems in this type flight, so it requires more monitoring.

TammyS · Post by **TammyS** » Fri May 30, 2008 7:36 am

Yes, you can have single birds in a flight - I have a number of them. I think it depends on a couple of factors.

1 - is it a breeding or non-breeding cage. In your case, it being a non-breeding cage it is more likely to be fine having single birds

2 - Species - Some species just seem to require another bird for companionship/grooming/cuddling than others. Like Societies, Owls, Strawberries, etc seem to do better in pairs. But if there isn't a true pair, they will find a bird with similar behavior to there own to "pair" up with. But take Gouldians, they are not "cuddly" birds and I think do better as a single in a cage.

3 - Even numbers - I like to have an even number of "single" birds in a flight. That way if they are looking for another bird to "pair" up with, there isn't a single bird that is left out.

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Sat May 31, 2008 1:58 pm

i have a few single finches in my aviary and they seem to do fine and chill with the other singles in the flight cage.