Parrot finch song & mating ritual

[grassland09]

Hi all,

Of all the parrot finch species, i'm particularly interested in the forbes mainly for the intensive blue color.

I have been surfing through youtube and a few bird forums but don't seem to find any video for parrot finch mating ritual or its singing. Do they have dancing ritual like the Gouldian?

Any links or information will be greatly appreciated.

[wellingtoncdm]

Hello, My forbes male trills and acts like the other parrot finch males do. They trill and make noise as well as chase the hens versus dance. They wouldn't waste time dancing when they are in hot pursuit of a hen! They are an aggressive breeder using force instead of displaying.

[monotwine]

I agree with wellington, I don't keep Forbes but my RTPF are the same. They trill and sing, but I feel its more a territorial statement than calling a hen. If he wants a girl he simply chases her down and takes her when she is exhausted. I have never seen a hen willingly land next to male and say take me!

[GOULDYGIRL]

I have never seen a hen willingly land next to male and say take me!

LOL!!

Renee

[CandoAviary]

I have red throats and I have seen the male's aggressive pursuits but much like a gouldian the hen will flee trying to get away. This is due to the hen not yet in breeding conditon or she does not approve/like her mate. Males will always pursue but it is the hens who do the choosing. I keep the species seperated in same sex flights (same as gouldian) and pair them when they come into breeding condition. If the males are too aggressive with the hens I will seperate them and try a week later. I do keep them side by side, just in different cages.
I have witnessed when I release a condition and excepting pair into the aviary a courtship. The male will follow the female but not in an aggressive chase. they will sit side by side and bow. the male will lean over in a bowing motion, then back up. then the female will bow and straighten up. In rotaion around 3 to 5 times. The male will then mount her. Sometimes she will fly off as he tries to hop on wanting more courting. When she is ready to be mounted on her last bow she will lean extremely far forward.... looks almost as if she will fall on her face. The male will mount her in the open where as the gouldians usually mate in the nest. They do this every morning for a week. I do not observe them breeding later in the day. Once they breed they form tight bonds and will stay close to one another from then on.
I always try and repair the same pair the next year and found like gouldians, they remember each other and start courting and mating immediately.
So yes they do have a courtship but many times it is not witnessed because the males usually come into breeding condition sooner than the females so the hens stand little choice and little chance of escaping the sexual assualt. Many hens have been killed by their overly aggressive suitors. I have had this happen to me once:(
I have heard many say that the males pull out the hens tail feathers and neck feathers. This is not a proper pairing. This is the result of an over aggressive male with a hen that is not conditioned for breeding. The only time I have had loss of tail feathers is when pairing too early or the dad will pull the offsprings if not removed from the aviary after they get older. This is his dominance action and he is trying to drive the males away and mate the daughters
Gouldians and parrot finches are closely related. They are the only finches with the colored mouth nodes I have found keeping them the same as gouldians other than they like larger breeding cages/flight works well.
I have never bred the forbes but all parrot finches are the same.

[monotwine]

Thanks for that observation Candace. Very interesting.

I so have to get another aviary to seperate my hens out. The only thing they have in their favour in my aviary is that the hens out number their prospective mates for now.

[annague]

I have seen mine do the mating ritual that Candace described as well -- however, with mine the bowing was much more subtle. Basically, the male landed beside the female and trilled and bowed, she trilled back and bowed too and after several instances of this the deal was sealed. Ah... true love...

PF's do a lot of sexual chasing and after tons of reading and researching I am still not sure whether the "rape" scenario is due to a female being out of condition or just that the male is from a different line where using the rape hold is prevalent behavior for the males.

Just as its been discovered that parenting skills are hereditary I am persuaded that it may be the same thing with PF breeding styles -- the female that I had that was plucked on the neck by her mate did the acceptance mating ritual and helped build their nest prior to and alongside the aggressive mating that was occurring. They made very loving parents and he never mated her without her indicating her willingness to breed -- in fact, if she was not in the mood she just pecked at him (Hello! Headache here!!) and he desisted immediately.

However, I do have to say that I prefer the pairings where the male doesn't use the rape hold to mount the female -- it just seems a lot more peaceful and sweet.

[grassland09]

Thank you very much to all for your replies with a great sense of humor

Now i fully understood why they are always on the move. I believed is to build up or maintain their stamina/speed/agility for the life-essential ritual. And i believed a century down the road the male might need twice the effort to achieve it due to evolution and survival of the fittest. Hmm... last believed, i wouldn't be able to witness it in a century.

Candace, sorry to hear about your bad expriences with over-aggressive male. So hidden behind the colorful coat lies this instinctive traits of abusive and killing acts. Poor female parrot finch who is always in need of protein have to suffer feather plucking from the males.

My blackthroated singers are very aggressive too especially male towards male. I have a pair that before the accpetance by the female, the male has been chasing/attacking the female seem to show her he is stronger physically but after acceptance its the other way round. She will be chasing him, to me its like ordering him to do works like guarding the food dish, gathering of nest material and relieving her of the nest duty, etc.

Actually my 1st choice is Indigo Bunting (having a sweet song too) but this gem don't seem to exist/selling in my country. And forbes is the only blue-intensive small finches that might be obtainable in my country other than the lighter-blue Cordon Bleu.

Thanks Candace and Anna for your detail description that i'm able to imagine how their ritual is like.