FINCHforum

The Owls came from Dianna





The Swees came from Floyd at the Atlanta Bird Fair this weekend

``12121`



I wanted two pairs of Swees but there was A LOT of drama regarding that... I sure hope Floyd is able to get more soon

They are lovely.

Hi Misty, The birds you have are not Swee Waxbills. I have no clue why dealers call them such. The birds you have are Yellow-bellied Wabills. The Swee Waxbill basically has the same coloring but has a black face. Juveniles look similar to the YB but all Swee's lack the yellow belly. The birds you have and the ones I have are Estrilda quartinia. The Swee waxbill is Estrilda melanotis. Dealers mistakenly label the YB melanotis. I have included links that show the differences. I have been on a mission to get a pair of true swee's but I have never seen them available. I would be curious if anyone has.

http://www.mangoverde.com/birdsound/pic ... -50-1.html

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/video/yellow-bel ... ting-seeds

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/video/swee-waxbi ... ing-ground

JohnBoy, after you brought that up in an earlier post, I did some research, and you are right, what we are all calling Swees are not really Swees, but Yellow-bellied Waxbills. There is so much confusion over these two species, as the name Swee is commonly used for both, especially in the U.S. I remember one time someone posted a photo of a Swee that had a black face, and we all thought it was just another subspecies. I tried to find that photo, it is here in the forum somewhere, but I couldn't. But that photo was of a true Swee, it was absolutely adorable. I sort of remember that the photo was posted by someone from Europe, or from Australia, not the U.S.

Misty,

Do you know if the Swees (or yellow bellied waxbills) are imported or US bred?

Sally, did you see the pics and movie links I posted? The movies are great!

Ursula, most are imported. I don't know anyone that has bred them. Although I would think someone has. I sure hope to breed mine when I put them in the aviary in the Spring.

MLaRue
They sure are a good looking finch-waxbill

Beautiful birds Misty. I am like you and would rather get at least 2 pair if not more birds. That way you can sell unrelated pairs :lol Also a good idea incase you would loose one, then you are not sitting with a lone bird. What size are those YB ? Smaller than gouldians?
Those owls are some of the prettiest I have seen..... I may need some of those someday......

JohnBoy,
Breeders usually lable the birds as to what people call them. This way they will be easily reconizable to sell. After all they are in the selling business not the educating business. Even when you point out the correct information old habits are hard to break.
The same thing happens with a breed I keep. The Erythrura Psittacea aka Red throated Parrot Finch
Most people call them the red headed parrot finch, even after told the difference. The Erythrura Cyaneovirens are the red headed rarrot finch. Most serious breeders will always refer to them by their latin names as to make sure you know what you are buying. Most Us hobbist call them the wrong name.... I just assume when people say red headed that they are referring to the red throated/faced unless it is a keeper like you that studies the subspecies and the differences of the birds. I too find that to be one of the fascinating things about bird keeping. I just learned tonight that there are 3 subspecies of chestnut breasted mannikens...each look slightly different.

JohnBoy wrote:Sally, did you see the pics and movie links I posted? The movies are great!

Yes, I did, they are really wonderful. The Yellow-bellied waxbill is what I had before, which I called Swee, since that is what they were named when I bought them. I had them for a while, but then lost one, and several months later, lost the other one. In doing a search on the forum, I found a post where Michelle of fairestfinches said she had chicks from her 'Swees'. Hilary has 'Swees' but I don't think she's ever gotten chicks from them. On another forum, I think British, there was some talk about how difficult the Swees are to not only breed, but keep alive, but I don't know if they were talking about the true Swees or the Yellow-bellied waxbill. What confusion can result from common names!! Whatever they are called, the Yellow-bellied Waxbills are a swee..t little bird.

Ursula, the chances are that any Yellow-bellied Waxbills you find right now are imports. I don't recall any breeders (other than Michelle) saying they have chicks. I have contacted a few breeders that listed 'Swees' on their websites, but none of them had had success with breeding them. I'll have to contact Michelle and ask about hers.

Candace, the Yellow-bellied Waxbills are almost as small as a Goldbreast, except mine were more rounded in shape, where the Goldbreasts are quite sleek and slim.

I wish I could find that photo that someone posted in a thread on this forum--it was a true Swee, with the black face, and just adorable.

Ursula wrote:Misty,

Do you know if the Swees (or yellow bellied waxbills) are imported or US bred?

These birds are imported. Which is one of the reasons I decided not to get
a pair although he had saved me one.

JohnBoy wrote:Hi Misty, The birds you have are not Swee Waxbills. I have no clue why dealers call them such. The birds you have are Yellow-bellied Wabills. The Swee Waxbill basically has the same coloring but has a black face. Juveniles look similar to the YB but all Swee's lack the yellow belly. The birds you have and the ones I have are Estrilda quartinia. The Swee waxbill is Estrilda melanotis. Dealers mistakenly label the YB melanotis. I have included links that show the differences. I have been on a mission to get a pair of true swee's but I have never seen them available. I would be curious if anyone has.

http://www.mangoverde.com/birdsound/pic ... -50-1.html

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/video/yellow-bel ... ting-seeds

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/video/swee-waxbi ... ing-ground

Johnboy,

I do know they are the YB Waxbill - it does not matter to me that they are not the REAL Swee but they are a subspecies of Coccopygia. However, Floyd is selling them as "Swees". You will not find the real Swees here in the US, I don't know of anyone that has them in a breeding program. This would include Michele at Fairest Finches - hers too are the YB waxbill. Perhaps Canada is working with them and will get them imported to the US through the brokers. I can only hope.

These birds are very striking no matter the name. The colors on their bodies, the detailed lines on their feathers, and the very beautiful black top beak and red lower beak. They are gorgeous.

Thank you for making the clarification to others though - wouldn't want people to be misinformed. I did just talk to Floyd and the reason why the YB Waxbill "Quartinia" is called "Swee" here in America - is because the Africans call the bird "Swees" in their country. The Africans call the "Melanotis" Dufresne's. Below are a few references for those that are interested in looking up more specific information pertaining these adorable birds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swee_Waxbill

Swee Waxbill also known as Yellow-bellied Waxbill
Estrilda quartinia
Estrilda melanotis
http://www.birdsexpress.net/yebewaesme.html - which is labeled wrong as well.

CandoAviary wrote:Beautiful birds Misty. I am like you and would rather get at least 2 pair if not more birds. That way you can sell unrelated pairs :lol Also a good idea incase you would loose one, then you are not sitting with a lone bird. What size are those YB ? Smaller than gouldians?
Those owls are some of the prettiest I have seen..... I may need some of those someday......

JohnBoy,
Breeders usually lable the birds as to what people call them. This way they will be easily reconizable to sell. After all they are in the selling business not the educating business. Even when you point out the correct information old habits are hard to break.
The same thing happens with a breed I keep. The Erythrura Psittacea aka Red throated Parrot Finch
Most people call them the red headed parrot finch, even after told the difference. The Erythrura Cyaneovirens are the red headed rarrot finch. Most serious breeders will always refer to them by their latin names as to make sure you know what you are buying. Most Us hobbist call them the wrong name.... I just assume when people say red headed that they are referring to the red throated/faced unless it is a keeper like you that studies the subspecies and the differences of the birds. I too find that to be one of the fascinating things about bird keeping. I just learned tonight that there are 3 subspecies of chestnut breasted mannikens...each look slightly different.

Candace,

You make an excellent point. When I was looking for the Red Headed Parrot Finch - I often wondered what the difference was from the Red Throated, Red Face, and Red Headed. I just knew I wanted that red and green bird.

Ursula wrote:Misty,

Do you know if the Swees (or yellow bellied waxbills) are imported or US bred?

These are imported from Africa but then so were the original stock that Michelle has now from a few years ago when the birds came in then...

dfcauley wrote:

Ursula wrote:Misty,

Do you know if the Swees (or yellow bellied waxbills) are imported or US bred?

These birds are imported. Which is one of the reasons I decided not to get
a pair although he had saved me one.

Donna you know or knew the Jameson's were imports as well too - right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefinch

Either way I'm happy you have them - they are gorgeous!