FINCHforum

Looking on kijiji, came across someone selling A 'Blue female Tanager'. It got me to wonder if anyone on the forum has ever had any ? And who knows anything about them. Are they finches?

Yes, Su Yin raises Tanagers. She can tell you about them. She comes on this forum and the facebook finchaholic page.

Su Yin, where are you? Told you are an exert on Tanagers. Just wanted some information about Blue tanagers, or any Tanagers for that matter of fact. Have never seen any or heared about them before an ad on kijiji the other day.

Tanks

Tanagers are softbills. Basically, finches are primarily seed-eating birds, while softbills eat mostly fruit and nectar. Both finches and softbills eat insects. Tanagers mostly come from South America. They aren't as easy to keep as finches. And most softbills, because of their diet, are fairly messy birds (liquidy poop). And that's about all I know!

Su is a member here, but doesn't post often. She does have a website, www.happybirdplace.weebly.com/.

Sally
Thanks Sally. That's enough information for now. $600.00 for liquid poop everywhere, I think I'll pass on that pretty blue girl and stick to my solid pooping finches. LOL. She is pretty though sigh~~~

Some of the tanagers are absolutely gorgeous. I'd love to have some of the softbills, but I think I would want to have a large aviary with a concrete floor that I could blast with a pressure washer! Because of the fruit, nectar, and those colored fruit-flavored pellets that a lot of them eat, they can turn the bottom of a cage into a multi-colored mess pretty quickly!

Sally
Poop Rainbows everywhere....Yikes!!!

Can u mix em with finches ?

Yes you can mix tanagers and other soft bills with finches. Usually they are very active, high-energy birds though so be sure to give them a large flight or aviary.

As stated above, due to their soft diet (nectar and fruit) their droppings are much looser than a bird's who's main diet is seed.

I wouldn't recommend keeping tanagers or grosbeaks with finches, since they are highly territorial or large and active birds. The pellets aren't expensive if you know where to buy them I am not sure about the price of (tanager) pellets in your area, but at the super-market or pet store/markets it ranges (Where I live) from 2.50-100. It depends on the species needs, where you buy it, amount and some other factors. I really want to buy this Ultra-Marine Grosbeak my neighbor is selling for 130 with cage and everything, it sounds like a bargain (But it is a juvenile... BUT, he is already growing his adult male feathers. Google these beautiful birds to get to see those super glossy blue feathers). Tanagers and Grosbeaks will eat just about anything and if you raised them (Or interacted with them) from a young age they might be tame, I just wouldn't recommend giving them anything they want though, for fairly obvious reasons...

At the end of the day, they still have those runny poops... Still the number one reason I haven't bought a pair, lol!

Rox wrote: At the end of the day, they still have those runny poops... Still the number one reason I haven't bought a pair, lol!

Yea, aesthetic-wise, though tanagers are a league above finches, their liquidy poop are the biggest turn-off for domestic raising. Even with a concrete floor, one is still faced with contamination of perches and cages as rotting damp poop gives rise to a whole new set of health and hygiene problems not experienced by finch keepers. .