FINCHforum

I am only thinking about it at this point, for sometime in the near or distant future....

What species would you recommend to put in the same flight as a single pair of owls?
I would want it to be something that would get along (obviously), and also something unrelated enough that they could not hybridize. It would have to be one of the quieter species, since my boyfriend is working on his thesis...in the same room as my finches are kept....

Any suggestions? Or any you would strongly recommend against keeping with owls?

I think they do good with waxbills, and shafttails. Lady gouldians, stars and parrotfinches are also an option, along with munia/mannikins

We had severl pairs of lovebirds when my husband was working on his...did not go over well!!! You definately need quiet birds...how about BCCBs or RCCBS...soft song and pretty to!

Stay away from anything pushy with them, stay with a passive bird...shaft tails are a bit bigger and a little territorial of their space. Zebra..no!!!

Silverbill would be nice to since they have a soft song.

Nelissa, if you go with silverbills, let me know where you get them!! I have been looking for a while.

Got it...how about more owls!!!!!

cindy wrote:Got it...how about more owls!!!!!

It can be hard to find owls around here

As has been said stick with the more passive species. I have been told from other breeders to also try to stick with relatively the same activity level as what you already have (in your case owls) in your flight. If you put a very active, flighty species in with a more lazy, laid back species the more active species can stress the more laid back species. I don't know how true this is but something to keep in mind. Also you may want to stick with something that has the same diet requirements. You don't want your owls getting too fat from eating seeds that another species needs because they're so active

I have a pair of laid back Gouldians with my very active Owl pair and they get along great! It doesn't seem to bother the gouldians when the owls are flitting around the cage or even right over their heads or between them. A lot of times the gouldians "baths" consist of the owls overspray from their baths. Instead of moving away from the owls splashing they sit and preen. They're a lot of fun to watch them interact together. I would definitely recommend this combination.

Nelissa, my owls are very busy all the time. They fly back and forth, rarely are they all still. They get the same diet as all the other finches seed mix nd pellets, eggfodds (favorite is grated egg with grated carrots and shaved broccoli tops).

If you have them flighted and they are busy it should not be an issue. I would be concerned if the cage was on the small side and the other pair of birds stressed them to the point of the owls sitting or retreating.

Silverbills, Cordons, Stars would do nicely in there with them. The only ones I would not mix in and this is based on my own experience are the Goldbreasts.

I have mine with Cordons, Stars, Parrots, Gouldians and Senegal Fires. Never had an issue with any of the,

I think they go best with Cordon Bleus IMO.

Hi Bluebonnet,

Could I ask what size cage/flight you have your Gouldians and Owls in please? According to the cage size calculator on this forum I can put 4-5 finches in the cage that I have. I already have two Gouldians in it and was looking for another pair of finches to put with them. I like Owls so would be a good combination for me if I can do it.
Thanks

My vote would be gouldians.

I suppose I should have said in my original post that I am not interested in getting into gouldians at this time. Nothing against them at all- I find them to be a beautiful species. I just don't have a lot of space to expand right now, and I know if I get gouldians I will want to go crazy breeding and trying for different combinations, etc. Someday definitely, but not right now.

I have looked at Stars in the past; before I fell in love with owls, I had seriously considered them as a second species to keep. I ran across some CBs (not sure which ones) at my first bird fair, and found them absolutely adorable. I don't know much about silverbills, but I will look into them as well.

The cage I am thinking of putting them in with owls would be two 30x18 breeders end to end, in a 5' flight. Or possibly in a 30x40 section of my large cage.

Nelissa, I have ponytailjoe's pricelist on finches, if you want it pm me, I can email you it, I might get a pair owls from him, for 50$ a bird you cannot beat it. And if you are intersted in getting them localy, I have been looking around and maria's birds has them for 125 each (which is kind of outrageous) let me know, Joe has a big list so you may be interested in something else.

I keep Double Bars (owls) with orange breasted waxbills-gouldians-cordon bleus-emblemas and fire finches. I dont like to keep them with stars (can be pushy), red faced parrot finches (hyperactive) or jacarinis( dominate the feed bowls). Whilst they are very active they dont like other species zipping around the cage. I have them in a big aviary as a flock and they seem to like their own company. I do notice however that they will team up with the cordons, orange breasted waxbills and firefinches in a mixed group though.