FINCHforum

I keep four owl finches and I can't tell which is male and which is female. As you know they are a very sociable specie so they all perfectly get along. During winter, I put a hammock house so they'll all snug in sleeping at cold night. In this picture they were awakened by the click sound of camera so their eyes were all wide opened.

Seeway

Absolutely adorable!

Owl Finches, are very sweet birds. I have never had any issues with them.

Seeway So cute! Some people feel that you can sex Owl finches visually, but I had several cases of Owls that were sexed wrong. The most reliable way to sex them is to take one bird at a time, put it in a small cage, and place the cage where he/she can hear the other birds but not see them. Normally, if the bird is a male, it will begin singing within 15 minutes. If it doesn't sing, I will try again at another time. After three tries and no singing, I will assume this is a hen. I only had this method fail me once, when the bird that did no singing for three tries was then sold as a hen and started singing at his new home.

Males sing, hens lay eggs. I once purchased 2 pairs, and eggs started appearing in their cage during quarantine. I separated each bird into its own small cage for overnight, and in the morning, each cage had an egg on the floor! I had been sold 4 hens, though the person who sold them to me thought she had 2 pairs.

Beautiful owl finches!!

Young male don't sing. But they look so much alike the adult, that you nearly can't tell. That's how I have two cocks now!

I own these birds for two months now and now I think I can tell they are adult: the tail has grown, is much longer (12 feathers) and the white upper tail coverts have doubled (in the bichenovii-subspecies). In flight you see a white diamond (not cream - pure white) against a black background. The beak is blue(ish) now with nothing of pink.

The pair of cocks are brothers and they behave very peacefully between them - no problem at all. All things they do they do together. It is really nice to watch them.

"The most reliable way to sex them is to take one bird at a time, put it in a small cage, and place the cage where he/she can hear the other birds but not see them. Normally, if the bird is a male, it will begin singing within 15 minutes. If it doesn't sing, I will try again at another time. After three tries and no singing, I will assume this is a hen"

Hi Sally,

The dilemma is the more often I catch them the more trust I'll lose and they'll get panic much more easily by my approaching. But it seems simple and effective. Maybe I'll try someday if I couldn't beat my curiosity. So far the vagueness suits me fine because I don't intend to breed them. Thank you for the suggestion.

Seeway

You could make a trap cage https://entretantasplumas.wordpress.com ... la-trampa/

This little cage now has always a treat for them (green fresh millet or cucumber) so they enter continuously. If I need to catch one of the birds, I place the 'guillotine' in the entry and activate the trap. Only one bird gets upset - the others don't even notice it. If it is the 'wrong' one which entered, I just let him go back to the big cage, and activate the trap again. The released bird isn't going to enter again at first.

It works perfectly. To sex them, just leave the trapped bird in the little trap-cage and wait if he wants to sing. If he does, you can use the trap to take the bird and band his leg with a open ring to identify him.
If she doesn't, just release her and wait for the next bird!

No need to use a net, no need to upset all the birds in the flight.

Fernando Wow, this is clever! Thank you very much.

Seeway - Hi, I would suggest that whenever you have to catch one of them (for whatever reason), you put a colored split band on that bird at that time. It will make identifying them in the future so much easier.
In fact, whenever I buy new birds, I put colored bands on them right away. I do the same with young ones the day they fledge. Usually they aren't that good at flying yet and it makes it easier to catch them (and there isn't much trauma). Also, I've always kept a log on each bird with all the important information.
Iso

isobea Thank you very much for your suggestion.