Fire finch

[Gonz]

Can a red bellied fire finch and red billed fire finch interbreed? I was told they would not but wanted to ask here to see if anyone had further information.
Thanks.

[Sally]

Gonz I don't know of a Red-bellied Fire finch in the U.S. We have four species that we normally have seen in the U.S.: Red-billed, Black-bellied, Black-faced, and Blue-billed. Any of these can interbreed, as they are so closely related, and hybrids would be fertile.

[Gonz]

That was my typo. The first should say black bellied fire finch.
That's what I thought.
Thanks Sally.

[Egret]

This is good to know, I was just wondering the same. At a Bird Fair a week ago in Nashville, I bought a "bonded pair" of what was supposed to be Red-billed Fire Finches. In the chaos at the fair I didn't look closely enough at the hen. The cock is a Red-Billed and the hen is a Black-Bellied and unfortunately they are not bonded in the least. They ignore each other completely, so I have been thinking I need to look for mates for both of them, as I'm really not interested in hybridizing.
For now, since they show no interest at all in each other I am housing them in different cages. At any rate, they'll be in quarantine for quite a while still. Lesson learned.

[Sally]

Egret Unfortunately, that happens sometimes at marts. Whenever you have species that look similar, you have to be quite careful. Another group that often gets mixed up are the Cordon Bleus. The males are easy to distinguish, but the hens can be harder. Again, since they are closely related, they can hybridize and produce fertile young.