Finch Hybrids

JamesR · Post by **JamesR** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:05 pm

I was wondering.
What finches will cross breed?
I had no idea that finches would actually do this until i saw a cross shafttail with a bicheno.
I know that they are usually infertile, much like a mule is but im interested all the same.

James

Post by **Sally** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:37 am

Hi, James - lots of finch species will crossbreed with others. If you look under species info at the Finch Information Center for whatever species you are interested in, it usually lists the species that it can crossbreed with. This is just a personal opinion, but I feel that we need to keep these species pure for the future, someday some of these species may not be available to us at all except for the ones we can raise. Hopefully, future generations will be able to visit someone's aviary and see Goldbreasts, or Stars, or whatever. Most of these hybrids are infertile, but not all.

Gunnar · Post by **Gunnar** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 1:09 pm

Zebras and owls are somewhat common. e-finch has a pretty good artical on this one.
Recently the spice and society have been crossed to create some of the darker more scaled self societys, after breeding this combination back to societies for a while.
The fawn silverbill is thought to be a hybrid, but thats being debated by a number of so-called experts.
I believe that stars can cross with owls or zebras too but I have never seen this cross before.
Just a few I know of.
Gunnar

EmilyHurd · Post by **EmilyHurd** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 6:23 am

I've had a star cross with a society, and I currently have a spice that is crossed with another species...

Gunnar · Post by **Gunnar** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 1:17 pm

I'd love to see a picture of a star society cross. They are so different genetically I didn't think it could work. Do you have a picture?