Zebra finch making a weird noise

[StodOne]

I have heard this a lot of times from my finch and I've also heard a lot of reasons as to why he is making that noise ..
Some say he is ready to breed, some say that he is begging the female for something, I filmed him doing this noise isnt the only noise , sometimes the noise is not much of a beep but rather a prolonged version of what I filmed , kinda like a cat ..
He makes that noise and then pokes the perch a few times , repeats that several times..
He did not lose his voice sometimes the whole day passes without him making that noise and with him singing his heart out , at the end of the video you can hear him sing normally..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r20q1X_ ... e=youtu.be
Thanks in advance

[StodOne]

Also another question not related to the previous one ..
My finches are kinda picky when it comes to seeds , they love to eat proso seeds (I believe to be the name in English), they will eat anything else nutritious that I put in the cage such as hard boiled eggs, greens and what not , but when it comes to seeds they mostly eat proso , is proso a good seeds food?

[Animalzoo]

StodOne

He's one pretty boy!
I have Zebras and it sounds similar to the sound they make when they have found somewhere they want to nest in and are talking to the hen. Is there something under that perch like a seed cup or bath? He could be signalling to the female when tapping on the perch...I assume there is a female in there with him. Have you provided a nest box?

I had never heard of proso seeds and had to google it. I think it's a millet seed? They should really have a proper finch seed with millet being a supplement/treat. Have you tried a bowl with some finch seed? What do they do.

[StodOne]

Animalzoo Thanks for response , it is called Proso millet , sorry for my bad English hehe , There is nothing under the perch , there is food and water on each side of the perch and a nest cup next to the perch ( I know the nest boxes that are high up are better but the male cant fly and that is the reason why i am placing the nest down) the female is constantly in the nest cup and yes I do believe he is trying to signal her something , maybe to come ?
Here is the proso millet link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proso_millet

[cindy]

proso is a millet that is often mixed in the finch seed mixes...I use it, buy it in big 50 lb bags and blend it into grasskeet and finch mixes. Proso if fresh is easily chitted/sprouted and the birds all love it.

[StodOne]

cindy Yes that is why I asked is it good for them , i just give them proso because it seems they eat that the most , I also have a seed mix right next to it..
I bought 2kg of proso for like $1.90 it is 190RSD in my country ... it is cheap but looks like the best quality in my mind ... thanks for response

[lnlovesorange]

My males all do this... mine are a little more... whispery though, but when they find a spot they want to nest they make that kind of noise, all of my males do it and I have 4 male zebras. Your birds are beautiful! Why can't your boy fly? Poor thing.... Anyway, no cause for alarm, it's normal noise he is trying to impress the female and show her "hey look at this great spot to make a nest and lay eggs" he's ok though. Deffintiely try what Cindy said sprouting that seed, it's REALLY good for them sprouted! Good luck with your birds, if they have young you will simipy HAVE to show us pictures!!!

[StodOne]

lnlovesorange Oh don't worry I will show if not a video of an egg hatching if there will be eggs hehe , i will just have to wake up early xD
Oh and about why he cant fly , he is pretty old and I didn't know much about finches back then so he didn't have a decent cage then , he still can fly horizontaly and sometimes manages to fly to another perch , but most of his time he spends on that single perch or on a water cup getting his tail wet , maybe he isn't moving around that much because he is tamed , I mean the only reason why he would fly away from me is if i jerk my hand while he is on my finger , I am hoping he will be able to fly again but I will just have to keep my fingers crossed until then

[lnlovesorange]

StodOne Oh Good!! So he isn't lame. He hasn't lost a wing, or hurt himself. That's good. Then as long as he has the chance to fly (a little bit at at ime, cuz there may be a sort of atrophy) then he will fly again. I had my gouldians in a 30X18X18in (sorry in CM that's 76.2X45.7X45.7, flight cage) and they flew a little, but not a ton, I then moved and they got a bird room.. (7ftX7fX10ft hight ceiling) and it took them a while but ehy finally came out of their cage, and they were NOT good fliers at first and they took their time and just flew a little bit at a time, now you would never know they weren't good fliers... They just need to work those muscles. But its' pretty cool that he is tame, that's great! Glad to hear the old boy isn't hurt though, nothing makes me more sad than a hurt bird!

[StodOne]

lnlovesorange Thanks for that info you shared , I am hoping that he will be able to once again fly , it would be great for him and also to mate , I am giving them hard boiled egg every 2 days , greens , plenty of treats and water , encouraging them to breed , fingers crossed

[Sojourner]

StodOne

Proso millet is sort of the standard "white" millet. It's fine for finches, but not by itself - its low in either A or B vitamins, I forget which. I'm leaning towards B vitamins being the lacking component in millet.

My guys are pretty picky eaters when it comes to seed. Most of the extra stuff you find in the finch mixes (and not in the budgie/parakeet mixes) they absolutely refuse to eat. This includes pellets, pieces of dried fruit, rape seed (tiny little round black seeds) and flax seed.

Flax seed, it turns out, has something bad in it anyway so I've given up on it. They utterly refuse to eat it.

After several months of observation and reading and figuring out what is locally available to me, I've settled on the following regime:

Budgie mix. I had been mixing it with finch mix 2:1 (budgie to finch) but I've decided there's really nothing in the finch mix they will eat or that they NEED to eat, so I'm going straight budgie mix for their staple seed from now on.

Budgie mix consists of 3 or more different types of millet, canary reedgrass seed, and oat groats. My guys eat all these seeds without problem. While not perfectly balanced, its pretty good as-is and I make up shortfalls by being sure I'm using a good vitamin in the water and plenty of mineral/calcium sources.

In addition to the budgie mix, I have the following in the cage at all times:

sunflower chips - They eat regularly.
Chia seed - They eat regularly but lightly.
nyjer seed - this, in particular, they rejected for months but have recently taken to eating it in small amounts.

I rotate through the following - 2 of these will be in the cage at any given time:

flaked red wheat
oat bran
wheat bran
whole oats (in the hull)
canary reedgrass seed
hulled hemp seed
cracked wheat
sesame seed

Oat and wheat bran, it turns out, have something bad in them as well, so I only give them a little bit when sesame seed is on the rotation. I mix some bran in with the sesame seed. Then it sort of self-limits their exposure so they don't get too much of it at any given time.

I also got pearl barley and buckwheat groats but the pieces are too big and I need to find my spare grinder so I can grind them a bit smaller.

I have society finches and they are opportunistic breeders - I believe Zebra finches are also opportunistic breeders, eg they are not deeply affected by day length to trigger breeding, but are very affected by availability of resources, eg - FOOD.

Society finches is what I've been reading about lately, but if Zebra finches are ALSO opportunistic breeders - and I'm pretty sure they are, I swear they're the rabbits of the avian world - a lot of this probably also applies.

So if you don't want them to breed, put them on an austerity diet. EG just give them greens, fruits, and the staple seed which is budgie mix for me, and some egg food from time to time, and all the minerals especially calcium in cuttlebone, mineral blocks, something like the ABBA mineral mix, crushed sterilized egg shells, oyster shell.

However apparently (if what I've been reading recently is correct) they won't go into a full molt until after a breeding "season". So postponing breeding indefinitely, if its even possible, is probably not ideal. They need to shed feathers to get rid of damaged feathers.

I did notice a significant decrease in breeding behavior when I started covering the cage at night, but that may have been coincidence. Perhaps they were already done with their evil breeding tricks by then, LOL! So - daylight length may still have SOME effect on even opportunistic breeders. Or - maybe not. I've not come across anything definitive on that score yet.

For now they seem to be doing ok on the budgie mix plus supplementary seed listed above. Plus greens and egg food on occasion.

If you start with a good budgie mix, you're most of the way there already. Proso millet as a seed supplement or in the budgie mix is fine, but not as their main staple seed.

[debbie276]

So if you don't want them to breed, put them on an austerity diet. EG just give them greens, fruits, and the staple seed which is budgie mix for me, and some egg food from time to time, and all the minerals especially calcium in cuttlebone, mineral blocks, something like the ABBA mineral mix, crushed sterilized egg shells, oyster shell.

An austerity diet is just seed, nothing else.
http://www.fabulousfinch.com/breeding-g ... inches.htm
The austerity period should last 4 weeks in captivity, with a diet consisting of a blend of White and Yellow millet (or a similar low fat mix such as Rye Grass and Japanese Millet) and fresh water. No other foods should be made available during this period. No softfood, sprouted seed, calcium grit, vitamins, fruits, vegetables, or greens should be provided during the Austerity Period.

However apparently (if what I've been reading recently is correct) they won't go into a full molt until after a breeding "season". So postponing breeding indefinitely, if its even possible, is probably not ideal. They need to shed feathers to get rid of damaged feathers.

My gouldians molt after the rest period and before they go into their breeding season. Not all go by what is written.

[StodOne]

Sojourner hah thanks a lot , I intend to let them breed and the female has been acting "motherly" recently if you get what I'm saying , and she started sleeping in her nest just this night .. She may lay an egg tomorrow morning , I hope !
And I do give them hard boiled egg every 2 days ..

[StodOne]

debbie276 I need zebra finch info , but gouldian info sure is helpful since I will get a pair of gould's soon enough Thanks!

[debbie276]

Can't wait to heat you've gotten your goulds
Keep in mind the austerity diet is austerity diet no matter the species ;)
Good luck