Hi everyone,
I just found out that there might be some quail finches available at Sunday's Pomona bird mart.
Does anybody have experience with them? An opinion?
I read up on them a little (as much as I could find in the last 30 minutes) but I'm not sure what to think. Might be nice to have some 'ground dwellers' out in the aviary. Our bird club keeps encouraging members to keep and breed especially the rarer African finches since so many already aren't being imported anymore. Those are good and valid reasons but I'm still not sure.
Iso
Quail finches
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isobea
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w.l.
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Re: Quail finches
I had them.
They are unique and lovely little birds but really need to be in a high aviary not to keep banging their heads against the top - 2 meters high is OK. I sold my last pair when I temporarily had to move all my birds into cages, where the quailfinches were truly miserable.
As you must have read already, they like picking their own partners, so do buy at least 2, but better 3 pairs. They will interfere very little with the activities of other birds, living as they do on the ground, so even 2-3 pairs won't make your aviary crowded. Another reason to buy more than just one pair is that they can be a bit delicate, and I lost some unexpectedly. And of course replacing a lost one later could be very hard.
The one thing I would worry about is keeping them outdoors in winter. They love direct sunshine, but a cold spell could mean the end for such tiny ground-dwellers.
They are unique and lovely little birds but really need to be in a high aviary not to keep banging their heads against the top - 2 meters high is OK. I sold my last pair when I temporarily had to move all my birds into cages, where the quailfinches were truly miserable.
As you must have read already, they like picking their own partners, so do buy at least 2, but better 3 pairs. They will interfere very little with the activities of other birds, living as they do on the ground, so even 2-3 pairs won't make your aviary crowded. Another reason to buy more than just one pair is that they can be a bit delicate, and I lost some unexpectedly. And of course replacing a lost one later could be very hard.
The one thing I would worry about is keeping them outdoors in winter. They love direct sunshine, but a cold spell could mean the end for such tiny ground-dwellers.
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isobea
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Re: Quail finches
w.l. - Thanks for your input. My aviary is a little over 1,80 m high so that might be okay. I also read about them being sensitive to cold which is my biggest concern. We almost never get frost (maybe 4 times in the last 31 years) and I put plexiglass panels on the exposed sides of my aviary when we get rainstorms, but it might still get too cold for them.
In the meantime I heard from a friend of mine who bought several pairs a few months ago. Perhaps I should wait to see how his do next winter. He lives 30 minutes east of here and their winter lows are quite a bit lower than ours. Also by next spring he might have some advice on what worked for him to keep them warm. If he should be able to raise some chicks to adulthood, I could buy a pair or two from him and they would be better acclimated than these newly imported birds. Also he might be able to tell me which ones have paired up.
See, by responding to you, I pretty much talked myself through this. Do you think this might be the best solution?
Iso
In the meantime I heard from a friend of mine who bought several pairs a few months ago. Perhaps I should wait to see how his do next winter. He lives 30 minutes east of here and their winter lows are quite a bit lower than ours. Also by next spring he might have some advice on what worked for him to keep them warm. If he should be able to raise some chicks to adulthood, I could buy a pair or two from him and they would be better acclimated than these newly imported birds. Also he might be able to tell me which ones have paired up.
See, by responding to you, I pretty much talked myself through this. Do you think this might be the best solution?
Iso
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w.l.
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Re: Quail finches
Nope - keineswegs!isobea wrote: Do you think this might be the best solution?
By the time you decide to get them, they may no longer be available, ever!
If at all interested, grab them while you can.
And perhaps bring them indoors in winter.