FINCHforum

I have a male cordon bleu who "bonded" with a "bachelor" male strawberry finch in a flight cage. They display to each other and perch and preen each other, and the male s.f. is currently trying to encourage nest building activity with the c.b.,, but obviously that is as far as things can go. I am hoping one of the strawberry babies from my nesting pair in another cage will prove to be a female and "friend" for the little unpaired S.F. In the meantime, I introduced what I thought was a female cordon bleu, comparing to pictures of such on the web, but the male c.b. and the male s.f. chase "her" around a lot in the cage and act as if she is intruding in their territory. However, "she" often displays on a perch with a blade of dry grass in her beak, hopping and singing, facing the male c.b. He just sits and watches. "Her" song is different from the one he sings when he displays to the male s.f. My question is, do female c.b.'s sing and display like this? Is their song noticeably different from the male's? This bird has brown in all the right places, and her blue is much less intense than my male, but he sure doesn't act happy to see her!

They are funny little things ain't they? I would say your cb and berry have become very good friends. If it were me, I would move the berry into a different cage and let the cb's pair up. I have read that the cb hen will display courting behavior although I never observed mine doing so. Her song was most definitely different from the cocks. So I would guess you are correct in thinking she is a hen. It has been suggested to me that when I get a replacement hen for my cb, (mine died about a month ago) that I allow them to get acquainted through cage bars before placing her in the flight with the male as he may be aggressive towards her in the beginning. From what I understand this is typical.

Hope that helps.

They can also get very aggressive during the breeding cycle! My males will chase their females if they dare leave the nest off-schedule, as well as when they're feeling romantic.

One of my female cbs will dance. I once caught her and her mate standing side-by-side on a perch, both doing the grass dance at the same time. As one hopped in the air the other would land - it was the funniest thing!

Hilary