FINCHforum

Hi All,
Deciding to obtain my last pair of finch to finalise my collection, but need a bit of help! What's better, in terms of song, plumage, and character? The green singer, yellow (black hooded) siskin, or strawberry finch? Why? Also considering the orange breasted waxbill. Any comments are appreciated!

Fraudster It depends on what other species you have and the space you have. Green Singers have a wonderful song, but they can be aggressive/pushy towards others, especially yellow birds. I don't know anything about yellow siskins. Strawberries have a lovely song and get along with most species, though some may get aggressive with other red birds during breeding season.

Sally thanks for your reply in your experience, which ones did you find to be of lower maintenance, easier to breed, etc? Thank you!

I haven't bred Green Singers or yellow siskins, and Strawberry finches can either be easy or a challenge, it seems to depend on the individual birds. I've had some readily breed and others drive me crazy. I forgot to comment on the Orange-breasted waxbill, which doesn't have much of a song at all, but is an easy keeper and breeder.

My experience is extremely limited. I had a pair of green singers years ago. They had one clutch, of which only one hatched. At the time I believed that they were not caring for the chick so I took over and hand fed him. Looking back I think I jumped the gun on removing the chick from the nest. Anyway, that was the tamest finch ever. They are great birds, very pretty with a beautiful song.

Sally Angiern update - got myself a pair of green singers!

Congratulations, and good luck, fraudster If these are serinus mozambicus, here's a link to a very nice and thorough article on the green singing finch http://www.aussiefinchbreeder.com/Singers.wps.htm
Cheers,
Luis