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I have never seen these birds for sale anywhere....are they "new" to the hobby? A pair of them are being sold on kijiji in my area for $300.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-oiseaux/saint-hy ... 1108289489

They aren't really new to the hobby, but they aren't imported that often either. They are from South America, and they are fruit eaters. Birds Express in Los Angeles has them now, as does Bird Product.

http://www.birdsexpress.net/blue-grey-tanager.html
http://www.birdproduct.com/birds/blue-grey-tanager/

Brette

Oh good grief ! Why do they have to be in Quebec???

Why can't they be in Alberta ????

I love these guys, love all Tanagers.

lovezebs

OR Ontario. They are so pretty!

Guys.... Quebec is just a hop-skip-and-a-jump away from you!!! They need a good home, come on!

Brette

LOL.....maybe a hop and a skip for Erine in Ontario, but a hop from Alberta ? Afraid I'm not that good at hopping any more

I do love the Tanagers though. Google images of the Red Tanagers, they are to die for. These blue lovelies, are just gorgeous too, sigh......

Mhmm I agree, tanagers seems to be gorgeous birds. Not for everyone though as they seem to only eat fruits and insects which I would think could get costly!

Brette

Yes, they would be somewhat expensive to maintain, and they do tend to have liquid poops from what I hear, but..... I want them, I WANT THEM !!! wah-wha-wah !!!!

Brette@erine@lovezebs I'll move this thread to the 'All Things Softbill' forum. I should have caught it before, someone brought it to my attention.

Tanagers are on my wish list. Absolutely beautiful but hard to come by here in SA

@lovezebs
Elana, can't you get them shipped to you??

Rox

I have seen pictures of different Tanagers, that are amazingly beautiful. I'm always surprised, that they are not more popular with bird keepers.

Regarding these two (who are two different subspecies, and not even sure if male or female, or the age) , I don't believe Brette would want to attempt shipping (most especially not in the Winter). We are talking a huge distance, even though it's the same country.

Plus I'm poor, and I don't have the space for a species with such different needs from the rest of the crew

But I can dream, can't I ?????

lovezebs

Elana, we have to dream!!

I would love to get some softbills, tanagers especially. But the cost and effort to feed them is what has put me off (never mind the purchase cost of the birds!). That and the watery poo's, lol!

Rox

Yea, the watery poop..... can you imagine the splat that would make on your head

Feeding would be a mixture of mainly fruits, from what I gather, with an insect mixture for protein added.

If they were available around here, and reasonably priced, I would give it a try, but as it is, I guess both of us will just have to go on dreaming.......

Isn't watery poo a sign of disease? My neighbors tanager doesn't have any watery poo... The people I know just keep them in those tiny wooden canary/wild bird cages One of my neighbor have some birds native to my area, such as 3 pepper-shrikes, some kind of icterid bird, brazillian "oriole", bicudos, cúrios, etc (Bird nomenclature is decieving, migrating tanagers aren't tanagers, but cardinal grosbeaks. "American Orioles and Blackbirds" are icterids and not old world orioles)...

Magnificent BirdMan Many of the softbills have fairly watery poop, because they eat so much fruit in their diet. My parents used to have a mynah, which was fed moistened dry dog kibble and fruit, especially grapes. His poop was disgusting, the cage had to be cleaned every single day!

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on finch care. If you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier to answer locale-specific questions later on. The birds mentioned in your post make me think you are not in the U.S.