FINCHforum

I am now the proud owner of 14 juvenile finches!! I am trying to sex them, but I keep reading here about molting into adult colors etc. So, my question is,,,How do you know when a finch is molting? I notice over time they look different, but don't notice the feather changes or pin feathers really. My Star, RCCB and GS all seem to have the coloring of females still, but two of them are singing, so I know they are males. The other two, I don't know if I have not heard singing or if they are indeed females. I wonder if these species have a first and a secondary age for molting? When can I expect to see their final feathers? Thanks.

It varies with each species, but most of them do not have the dramatic molt that you see with Gouldians. Instead, they just shed feathers each day until they have replaced the old with new. They will usually go thru a molt from their baby feathers to their juvenile feathers, and eventually into their adult feathers. Juvenile plumage often resembles an adult hen.

For instance, I have four young Strawberries that had molted into their juvenile plumage, which looks like an adult female, at about 2 1/2 months of age. At about 7 months of age, one of the 'hens' started molting into the breeding plumage of a male.

With Green Singers and Stars, only the males sing, so you can spot a male. With RCCBs, the hens can also sing, so that is not a true indication either. You just have to wait till the males develop the red cheek patches. Usually the age that is listed in the FIC under Species Information as when they become sexually mature is when they will have molted into their adult plumage.

Congrats on all the juveniles!