FINCHforum

today i was given a grass parakeet, the previous owner bought him and got him home and felt that he didn't have enough room to fly, he has felt guilty for months...

today he brought him to me and asked that i take him or find a new home for him.... he is a tourquoisine grass parakeet. his colours are stunning, he is beautiful.

my question is, how would he do in a mixed flight with finches. all accounts i have read have stated this to be a peaceful species of parakeets. and that it would be okay.... but thats just google.... i want finch forum opinions.... because ultimately i abide by the rules here.... i would love to keep him but cant justify another flight in the already crowded house.

i know some of you keep mixed flights with bourkes...
so please weigh in on my mental debate of pros and cons.
thanks!
kyle.

The TGK are a little more aggressive than scarlets and bourkes but I would imagine it would depend on your individual bird.
Since it doesn't have a mate and not in the breeding mode that should deter some of the aggression. I would use much caution with mixing him with finches unless you have a large aviary.

Hi Kyle,

I kept mine with a mixed collection of finches for over a year and they were never nippy or pushy toward the finches so I would say you could mix them, HOWEVER whenever the grass parakeet took off all the finches would fly around in panic, even after a month of it, and as grass parakeets like to fly, I realised I needed to give my finches a break. I imagine finches would not breed in such conditions. Bourkes are even worse because they like to exercise their wings at dusk, which is when finches can’t see well.

I have my rosey bourkes separate, they are young still but they like to sit on the bottom of their flight and flap hard. They also fly back and forth from branch to branch, wing span is wide. The larger finches like shaftail maybe zebras might be ok with them if your flight is very large and the finches can move away from them up high. Grasskeets prefer the lenght more than height for flying. Since they prefer the bottom area of the cage put some perches or branches width wise at either side allowing enough room for him to turn around and not hit his tail on the bars. You may want to put a branch in the center at the same height as the others on each side since he is not use to flying freely.

Put you finch nests and perches up high and give them greens to hide in. Most of the time my bourkes are on the bottom of the cage since grasskeets are ground feeders in the wild or they are sleeping on their perches. Bourkes are a little more docile than some of the other species of grasskeets. If you put him in with your finches keep on eye out for any aggression or finch fear.