FINCHforum

I'm having a bit of trouble deciding on a female Gloster canary or a pair of Society finches. I know many of you have both so that is why I posted my question here and hope you can help

The pet store has several societies and I would like 2 males but since they are difficult to sex, I could accidentally come home with a female/male pair. I'd then have to figure out what to do about all the eggs that I don't want to keep. Hmmmm. There are some female Glosters for sale and they interest me too.

My questions are...which is louder? A pair of Societies or a female canary? I had a male canary a long time ago and he was pretty loud which I don't want this time around. Also, would a single female canary lay eggs, how often, and what steps could I take to decrease her egg laying if she does?

ellen7

Societies, are fairly quiet, although males do sing, but most don't have what you would call a loud song.

Male Society Song:
https://youtu.be/tg8yzbNGMcM

Female Society sounds:
https://youtu.be/QroCdLnnIk8

Female Canary, don't really sing, they chirp, and it's not a loud sound.
That said, very few females sing a little, but it's rare and nowhere near the volume of males.

Male Canary singing:
https://youtu.be/Ji7lPWb-gNo

Female Canary sounds:
https://youtu.be/7CNdrzI83jc

Or you could get one of these boys, lol...
https://youtu.be/n8eOUZkl3kQ

Regarding egg laying:
Anytime you get females, you might get egg laying.
Not offering nests, usually cuts back on this, but you can't rule it our altogether. It just sort of happens....oops I laid an egg . It's really not such a big deal.

Elana,

The you tube treks were useful...thanks! I played each of them a few times and I *think* I can tell the difference between the females and males. I'll replay them a few more times before I head out this weekend to look at birds.

lol, I think I'll pass on the Russian canary. He sounds like a piccolo or a flute though. Pretty neat but it would probably drive me bonkers!

Male societies are quite easily visually identified when they sing - because they CHANGE SHAPE.

They sort of go pear-shaped. I've also likened it to what a bag full of water might look like if you tried to drag it along the ground. Once you've seen it you will always recognize it.

Young (immature) females will also sometimes sing, and they sound like immature males just learning their song. So going by song alone in YOUNG Bengalese/society finches might not be as useful. But the females never develop the posture - on the other hand I'm not sure when immature males develop the posture either.

So for sure if you see the bird go pear-shaped that is definitely a male, but if they seem to sing a bit and don't go pear shaped, it could be an immature female, but with some small chance of being an immature male depending on when the young males develop this behavior (and I don't know when that might be).

ellen7

So, what did you decide?
Do we have any new birds yet???

lovezebs wrote: ellen7

So, what did you decide?
Do we have any new birds yet???

Yes! I've been enjoying a pair of Societies and need to introduce them and post some pics. Which category does that fall under?

ellen7

Congratulations!!!

You can introduce them under "species" or "finch chat"

Looking forward to hearing more about them , and pictures would be welcome