FINCHforum

Hi,

today I went to the Petstore and bought myself 2 Society finches, both crested, one a Fawn Pied and the other a Normal Pied.

The Normal Pied definetly is a male, at the store he was the only one of the 4 Societies that was puffing up and singing.

When I came home it didn't even take the Normal pied 20 min to puff up and sing over and over again(looks really cute).

After about an hour both birds sat side by side, he singing and the other one just sitting there with its head low and not moving. They preened eachother for a few minutes after he was done with his song and then resumed jumping back and forth in the cage chirping the day away.

Anyhow, is that a sign that I acctually got lucky enough to have picked a pair?? I tried really hard to do so, stood in front of the cage in the store for 10 min. waiting for someone to sing so I can at least be sure that one of the 2 birds I pick is a male.

Very sweet lil birds they are, I am not used to all the noise they make tho, since the Weavers never make a sound. These guys cheep non-stop.

I'll post a pic as soon as I make one thats half way decend.

Anna

Often you think you have a male cause it doesn't sing. But it could be intimidated by the other bird, so it doesn't sing. I would separate them into different rooms to see if the silent bird will then sing... or chirp if it's a hen.

uh oh, seperating will be hard, I live in a one room house.

Their chirps sure a different from eachother, his chatter will contain whistling and sharp chirps, the other one basicly makes only raspy quiet purring sounding chirps.

Do you think putting one bird at one end of my house and the other one at the other end will be seperation enough??

Here are some pics:




Thx
Anna

Such pretty birds!!!

hi anna
i dont know about different sex but the fawn one is very much younger than the other as it has no dark scale on its legs..so common in young birds plus you may find its beak may change colour also! the head lowering may just be a dominance thing ..if you put them either end of a room they should sing to each other..but if you put a nest in and eggs are produced then you know the other one is a female you dont have to keep the eggs if you dont want to but really thats the only sure fire way

ken

well, they have been sitting at opposite end of my house(with my cupboard as a visual barrier) for close to two hours. The male is sings and sings while the fawn just jumps from perch to perch chirping and chirping louder every time it hears the male sing.

Later today I may just make a nest and see what they do. Would a small cardboard box with a hole do the trick?? Or should I get a basket type nest?? My cockatiels ate the top off of my last basket nest. grrr......

hi anna
yes societies seem to rgard anything with a hole in it a nest just put some kitchen paper towel or some toilet tissue in the bottom if the bottom is flat ,they will appreciate the extra cushioning and leave a bit extra shoved through the bars of the cage or any thing you can use for nest material...they will soon be onto it!

ken

I could be way off base here, but that fawn bird looks like a hen to me. Don't know if it's just because my hen is the same coloring with the same short stubby tail or what. But I have a gut feeling it's a hen.

I'd leave them in separate cages for the remainder of the day to see if the fawn begins to do anything other than chirp. Like Kenny says, the only sure way is to give them a nest and see if they produce eggs.

She had a nice long tail like the male when I first saw them(2 days ago), but the spice finches they had in with the societies plucked their tailfeathers out(they would follow the societies everywhere to do it).

Cute lil things those spices even if they pluck the other.

The store said the breeder they got the 4 Scoieties from told them they were 2 pairs(but since no one can get legbands no one knows which birds which). So I hope I got lucky and picked the right birds.

Whatever genders they are, they are simply adorable, esspecially with that geeky lookin' hairdo.

Thx,
Anna

lol they're beautiful regardless of whether or not they're a pair, I love their hair do's!

They are cuties! Thought that tail looked like the result of a plucking party! Word of warning, though - I don't know if you ever intend to breed them, but the general concensus is that you shouldn't breed crest to crest.

Could be plucking I suppose. But I've never found the feathers my hen is missing on the aviary floor. I think she just has a stubby tail. The males isn't much longer.

I wonder if crested finches are like crested ducks, 1 crested gene is good, 2 are lethal. Is that why one shouldn't breed 2 crested birds??

I know from the crested ducks that when you breed 2 crested birds, 1/3 of embryos have 2 crested genes and die in the egg, 1/3 have just 1 crested gene and will hatch and have crests and 1/3 will have no crested gene, will hatch and will be crest-less.

Is that sorta the same with Finches??

These guys are mainly there for when my weavers decide to breed, can't find much about the parenting skills of weavers so I would like to rather be safe then sorry.

Anna

Nice birds!

I am no genetics expert, but I remember reading in a book that crossing two crested societies will give you bald babies. I don't know if there is any truth too that or not, just thought I would throw it out there.

That's how I understand it. I don't know anything about weavers, but societies are wonderful parents as well as great little birds in their own right.