Society Finches

WillandChaucer · Post by **WillandChaucer** » Fri May 25, 2007 12:20 pm

Hi everyone!
My boyfriend and I just got ourselves 2 society Finches (William and Chaucer). Niether of us have ever owned birds before so we are full of questions!
The lady at the store said that Chaucer was a male, but we haven't heard him sing, we don't think, so I'm guessing he's a girl? Will we ever know for sure, meaning, will William show some kind of display of dominance or mating or anything?
We turn out the lights around 10 every night and I turn them on at 7am-ish in the morning before I go to work, as I don't want to bother my neighbours too much (we live in an apartment and aren't sure if they can hear them or not) - Will is really chatty.
Can we teach them to speak? I read an article about a lady who taught hers to speak!
Do you have any advice for us? Anything at all would be great! Esp. on cleaning. We don't have a pull out tray in our cage, but we think we have it figured out. How important is it to clean the bars? They only pooped on them once. Should we be cleaning the poop off their food/water shields more than once a week?
Thanks!!!

FinchLady07 · Post by **FinchLady07** » Fri May 25, 2007 1:40 pm

I have a (what I now think is male) society. But it doesnt sing. I makes a buzzing noise. Which I was toold was a kind of singing. I love the breed.

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Fri May 25, 2007 3:42 pm

i am sorry to tell you that your societies will never talk,and the only way you can tell if you have amale is when it sings but it is not much of a song so you will have to listen for any deviation in the sound of the 2 birds the male also puffs himself up when he sings and that is the only way you will tell as far as cleaning is concerned you will have to do it when you feel it needs doing but once a week would i think would be ok unless they get very dirty...societies do like baths though if you can give them a water dish of some kind or a bird bath that hangs on the cage...

ken

WillandChaucer · Post by **WillandChaucer** » Fri May 25, 2007 4:09 pm

On the talking thing, I have read several articles about talking finches, so I don't think it's totally impossible

Both of ours will puff up when they chirp, is that the same thing?

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Fri May 25, 2007 4:21 pm

hi sounds likeyou have 2 males there...i am not disputing anything about the societies but i have been keeping them for nearly 30 years and never heard one even try to utter a word and i have a radio talk station on all the time in my birdroom for thier company..i may be wrong!

ken

Rue · Post by **Rue** » Fri May 25, 2007 4:30 pm

...although I've read anecdotes about the odd finch saying a word...it's very very rare...so unless you want to experiment and do some intensive training with a young bird...open to the concept...it probably won't happen...

...even among parrot species known to be good talkers (i.e. African Greys)...not all individuals will want to talk...

...and did you know...that of all talking parrots, budgies (males) tend to have the best vocabularies?

Finches are adorable! Enjoy them for their chirpyness and bubbling personalities!

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Fri May 25, 2007 4:35 pm

thanks rue
i though i may be right.they have the wrong shape tongue to talk i think all the parrot like are prone to talking as they have a tongue similar to humans where finches have a reed type tongue hence the singing and not sqauwking!

ken

Rue · Post by **Rue** » Fri May 25, 2007 4:51 pm

...I'd have to do a little researching...but I think you're right...tongue shape is a big part of it...but there's more, since mynahs are superb talkers...and I've been fortunate enough to meet a talking crow! What a sweetheart she was!

My Pionus talks! He says his name...in 101 different ways...

I've spent the last 2 years trying to get him to say 'Love you!'...

...finally! I thought my efforts were rewarded a couple of weeks ago! I heard him say something new! Something OTHER than his name! So I listened closer...and he said,

"Good girl!"

LOL...my Green-cheeked Amazon will say 'Hello!' and 'Hello Good Girl" (along with some other recognizable phrases in some unknown foreign language...like Amazonese!)...so to try to get her to talk to me I spend a lot of time crooning 'Good girl' to her...

...guess Mr. Busybody wanted in on the act...

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Fri May 25, 2007 5:06 pm

hi rue
a long time ago i had a cockatiel that talked it had quite a vocabulary !unfortunately my wife named him cleo and it was a male and we couldnt change its name as the first phrase it learnt was pretty cleo

ken

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Sat May 26, 2007 8:30 am

A talking finch?

That's the funniest thing I've heard in ages!!

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Sun May 27, 2007 7:15 pm

hi all
there is a possibility that this person may have been sold these finches on the understanding that they could talk..after all we all learn something everyday and somethings that may sound stupid to us may well be thought true to others until they learn otherwise!

ken

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Sun May 27, 2007 7:25 pm

very true kenny, I knew a person in high school that paid a lot of money for a very rare cat - rabbit hybrid

This of course is impossible, however it didn't stop our (obviously) small town's new paper from running a story about the "miraculous creature". The cat was of course, all cat, but a manx (shortened tail variety) whose deformity (being the shortened tail) caused nerve problems with the rear legs so that the cat couldn't move them independently and only hopped.
Anyways W&C I hope you and your b/f enjoy your finches, if you ever get them to talk we'd love to see a video

I hope you were not sold the finches by someone who told you they could learn to talk ,though.

Christopher Smith · Post by **Christopher Smith** » Wed May 30, 2007 11:38 pm

tammieb wrote:A talking finch?

That's the funniest thing I've heard in ages!!

Don't laugh too hard

http://www.finchworld.com/topics/talk/r ... imstra.htm

Thalia · Post by **Thalia** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 4:37 pm

it's important to note that the author of that points out that only hand fed finches in his experience have learned words. I find that more credible than teaching a finch to speak like you would a parrot, since as the doctor points out young song birds have an impressionable period where they learn their song. Young birds also practice their song and if played a distorted recording of their voice will practice more to try to fix the problem.

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 7:43 pm

Christopher Smith wrote:
tammieb wrote:A talking finch?

That's the funniest thing I've heard in ages!!
Don't laugh too hard

http://www.finchworld.com/topics/talk/r ... imstra.htm

Until I hear one talk with my own ears, I won't believe it.