orange cheek zebra finch

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In the orange cheek zebra finch that has the gray body white breast are the ones with the orange cheeks the males? And do the females lack the orange cheeks? In our pet stores I have only seen ones that have the orange cheeks and no one at the pet store can tell me which are male and which are female. I would like to know which sex I am buying. Can anyone help me figure it out?

[FinchNerd]

It sounds to me like you are describing the regular wild gray color formation. In which case, the males have orange cheeks, black stripes under their chin, white breasts, and a brown area with white spots underneath their wings. Males are also the only ones that sing. Females have paler gray bodies, white breasts, and the black and white tails. No orange cheeks or markings under the wings.

Now of course there are color variations that change these rules and things get a little more complicated. Singing is the one tell tale fail safe way to determine a finch is male.

And be aware if you get a male and female they will most likely breed. These things are worse than rabbits sometimes!

Good luck!

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FinchNerd They look exactly like the picture under your user name so that would be a male and the females do not have the orange cheeks?

[FinchNerd]

Yes indeed. The females also lack the bars under the chin and the markings under the wings.