FINCHforum

Hello everyone!
I am new to this site, and recently just got two finches.
I see that there is alot to learn about them. I was told that they are both zebra finches, but they look totally different? Can anyone tell me what they are, by looking at the pictures? I don't know how to figure out there sex either. Can anyone help?

Thanks

Pinny

Welcome to the Finch Forum, Pinny. I hope you didn't want a Zebra Finch because guess what - neither of those birds are Zebra Finches!!

Hello - It looks like a orange cheeked waxbill and a society finch? Beautiful birds. I'm not sure how to sex either of the birds, but yes, definitely not zebra finches. I hope that's not disappointing news.

Welcome to the forum ,if you fill in your profile with where you live it makes it a lot easier to answer questions sometimes ,have you checked out the finch information center there is a lot of good reading there.
Looks like a orange cheek and spice finch
http://www.finchinfo.com/birds/finches/ ... axbill.php
http://www.finchinfo.com/birds/finches/ ... _finch.php

I would say Orange Cheeked Waxbill and Spice Finch (too much scallop detail on the breast for a Society) as well. Congrats on your new fids!!

OC and Spice definitely! Welcome to the FF!

Anna and Liz are right on the money...OC and Spice!!!

Congrats on your new finches!

I've owned both of those species, and neither one is a Zebra. The brown one with the speckled chest is a Spice Finch. They gray one with the orange cheeks is an Orange-Cheeked Waxbill.

As far as sexing them, if I'm not mistaken Spice Finches are impossible to sex visually. The only way you can tell the difference is that the males sing and the females do not. With the Orange-Cheeked Waxbills, the males have brighter, more vibrant orange cheeks than the female. Its hard for me to tell what you're bird is though, without having another one to compare it against. If I had to take a wild guess without having another bird to look at, I'd say it might be a male.

Glad you were able to find out what you have.
If you paid the price of a zebra finch, you are surely a winner

Wow!! thanks everyone for the warm welcome!!
you are all such a great help!
LOL.. I didn't think they were zebras, because when i looked zebras up, they didn't look like that. The Orange cheeked waxbill (yay i know what he is!!) i got first and was told he was a zebra! ah well, i like these ones too! i am so happy I found this site and you guys! I paid $25 each for them. I am listening to them right now, and wow do they ever sound different. I have another question?! lol ok so, do ALL finches that sing mean that they are males? or can the girls sing too?
The orange one had the brightest cheeks of them all when i got him, so i think hes a male yes.. and he makes this crazy song... it like gets higher and higher then is continues for like 5 seconds straight without no pausing. So neat. The other spice makes noise, but here and there, doesn't go off like the orange cheek. They seem to be getting along, but i head there are some finches you can't put together?
Also, when I got home today, the orange cheek one was making that same noise, and jumping up and down on his perch right in front of the other one! lol what does that mean? Is he sending a mating call perhaps?

oh i just read the information center stuff, and it says that the orange cheeked waxbill should be housed alone??really? I have them together and their just fine

pinnyberry wrote:oh i just read the information center stuff, and it says that the orange cheeked waxbill should be housed alone??really? I have them together and their just fine

A lot of it will depend on the individual birds' characters/personalities. If they are getting along okay now with no plucking, chasing or harassing of the other bird - then I would leave them together.

I have my Orange-Cheek in a mixed aviary and he's always done fine. Never harassed any of the other birds or anything. As far as what species should be housed together and those that should not, I find some places to be kind of misleading, and it does vary from bird to bird. For instance, I was looking for species I could house with my Pin-Tailed Whydahs; one site said Bronze Mannikins, another said not to house them with Bronze Mannikins. Seems the experts don't even know what species are compatible. The best I could suggest is to just monitor your finches and see if anyone is being mean. I've started sitting down and watching my birds every day to see if everyone is "behaving". Just be prepared if you buy something that isn't compatible, to have another cage to place the other bird in. I would also figure that species from the same region as they exist in the wild might tend to get along better than finches that wouldn't exist together in the wild.

As far as the male/female singing, I believe the females do make noise, but in most species do not "sing". There are exceptions to this rule in some species though, as I recently read that in Cordon Blues, both the male and female sing. The other day I was watching my finches and my female Pin-tailed Whydah suddenly started making a calling noise. I never even knew she made noise before, but she did this call several times yesterday, its not the same song that the male Whydah makes though.

Orange Cheeked male often have more orange feathers around the vent

pinnyberry wrote: Also, when I got home today, the orange cheek one was making that same noise, and jumping up and down on his perch right in front of the other one! lol what does that mean? Is he sending a mating call perhaps?

Yup, he's lusting after the other one, sounds like! Oh well, good thing they are both singing. It's not really a good idea to let different species breed. But you can sure enjoy their singing.

By the way, welcome to the forum, neighbour! If you live anywhere near West Coast Tropical Birds, it's a pretty good place to buy cages and seed, though mostly they cater to parrot people. (They're on Broadway just a couple of blocks west of Granville.) For finch supplies, Just for Birds is good, but they are out here in Langley.