Help in determining variety :) (warning: lots of pictures)

[jourdy]

Hi everyone, I recently bought 2 zebras to add to my flock, but I am having trouble determining the variety and sex of the new zebras. Here are a few pictures:



middle and right




the white one


If anyone can tell me what varieties these are, and what gender the white one is, I would be really grateful. The white has the spots on the wings like a normal male zebra, has the tear-shaped thing on its head, but lacks the cheek patches.


More info on them and my cage:

-I just got them yesterday, and they share the cage with 2 shafttails, 4 societies, and 2 other zebras - for a grand total of 10.

-The white one has taken control over a nest box located at the top of the cage, and spends time there with the other new zebra (unknown variety, but surely a male because I can see his cheek patches.

-A while ago, I noticed that the white one is really fixing up the inside of the nest box. He/she keeps moving the dried grass.

-Also, he/she has been chasing the other 2 zebras, especially the male. I read somewhere that having 3 pairs of finches will make them not fight each other.. Should it be 3 pairs of Zebra finches? Like I said earlier, I have in the cage a pair of Heck's, 2 pairs of societies, and 2 pairs of Zebras. (I just removed the pair of fawn java sparrows since the female java bullied everyone that came close to them - strange also since I read that Java finches are harmless). Everyone else gets along, since day 1.

A few more pictures of the cage:

There are 4 nest boxes. My favorite is the fat Shafttail right there!




These are the older pair of zebras. A normal male and a female pied fawn (I think)


This unknown variety of society finch has red eyes. I can't believe I just noticed it now.

[kenny]

hi jourdy
the bottom picture is a society finch,but the red eyes are caused by your flash,its usually only white ones that have red eyes,you look as if you have a pair of fawn zebras the one with the cheek patches is of course the cock bird,the white one is a male ..but it could be a florida fancy or a chesnut flanked white
ken

[Crystal]

It is possible your fawn male is an orange breasted fawn male...I propose this because his teardrop and breast bar (in the photos at least) do not appear as black as they should.

Also your white zebra does look like a male CFW, but he is so diluted I suspect he is a fawn CFW.

[jourdy]

Hey, thanks for the replies.
So, the white zebra is a male? If so, that means I have 3 males and 1 female.. Should I get 2 more female zebras? to even out? Or will that only lead to more bickering?

[tammieb]

Hi Jourdy, welcome back. I was wondering how you'd gotten along with your avairy and new birds.

I see you have some nice ones! Unusual colors and etc. I agree the white one looks to be male.

It's difficult to keep a good balance. If they seem to be getting along okay then I wouldn't risk adding more birds to the mix. It appears your aviary is at the max now.

[jourdy]

Actually, now the tide has turned. My oldest zebra is now the one chasing the new ones away, if they come close to his nest. Would it be wise to get 2 more females so that this aggression will stop?

tammieb, you are right. the aviary is at its max. I would be relocating the others into another aviary soon though.

By the way, I was looking for some female zebras a while ago, but I ended up not finding any. However, I stumbled upon these birds, which appear to be Black Headed Manikins. You would not believe how much they cost... 20 Pesos (about 40 cents US). It was crazy cheap. I took some pictures of them in my holding pen - a small, dirty cage that I use when transferring finches to other cages. So here are the pictures:

Correct me if these are not black Headed Manikins.

This is the adult plumage, right? I find the silver beak so handsome!


The green one, on the other hand, is the juvenile plumage.. while the other one is molting.. right?


Anyway, I would like to comment that these suckers have a hard bite! I have never seen finches bite before.. but this molting one.. wow. Really painful. Hehe. by the way, how much are these in the US?

[kenny]

hi jourdy
see if you can find them your self on here..they look like blackheads to me but could turn out to be different species if they are moulting

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bengalese/page37.html

ken

[tammieb]

Those are attractive birds... look like the "chestnut" munias to me. Also known as, "black headed nun/mannikin/munia".

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bengalese/page52.html

[Hilary]

I don't know about the juvenile, but the other is definitely a black-headed nun (I have two). And yes, they can bite like you wouldn't believe! Watch their nails - they grow very fast. I do love their little song, though!

Hilary

[MadHatter]

Zebs: white one is definately a male - i'd have to agree with crystal and say Fawn CFW due to the dilution factor.
The other new male looks to be a Black Faced or Black Chested Fawn.
The unkown society looks to be a fawn pied ('course we don't really need to say "pied" with societies as it is virtually impossible to find any that are not pied.) Sexing is impossible from your picture. As for the red eyes, most mutations which result in a dilution or lightening of the feather pigment also affect the pigment of the eyes. So fawns, dilutes CFWs, etc, usually have what are know as "plum coloured" or reddish eyes.
Lastly your Munias AKA Mannikins AKA Nuns definately look to be Black Headeds, or at least the one in the first pic (and yes that does look like full adult coulour) and the one in the second pic that is moutling into adult plumage. the uncoloured juveniles of all the species in the genus Lonchura (Munias/Mannikins/Nuns) all look very much alike. So I cannot say for certain that it is the same species - only time will tell.

[jourdy]

Great! Thanks for the help.
I'll keep you all updated (if you're interested)