Some penguins

[cindy]

Trish, she looks like a silver/fawn. Have you put them together with a nest....it will be interesting to see their young.

http://www.efinch.com/species/ffzeb.htm
go to the section on Identifying splits...it may help a bit, she does though have a strong tear mark.

[6finchfriends]

They actually have 2 chicks!!! They hatched last Thursday and Friday and I'm so excited!!! I can't wait to see what they turn out to be! We'll have to compare chicks. I love my little Penguin male. I think he's so cute but has a crippled foot and kind of splayed legs (he was a tossling that was given to me) so I didn't know if he would be able to breed properly. Looks like he is! So I'm really happy.

[cindy]

Trish...I am sorry, I did read that you had two little chicks...when the babies fledge they will look like normals, you have to wait a while to see the outcome, it is slow, maybe one or two molts...but it is s worth it. They are adorable.

[6finchfriends]

Thanks so much! I know I'll have to wait for the molt or molts but that's 1/2 the fun! Your Penguins are so pretty. I have no idea if the ones I have are well bred or not since they were given to me but I do love them.

[cindy]

Trish, I know we will both be "calmly" waiting to see!!!!

[6finchfriends]

Cindy~ I wrote to Garrie Landry (AcanadianaAviaries www.zebrafinch.com) And sent him the photos of my hen. This is what he said she was:

it is very likely Florida silver or. a grey Isabel. they both look alike former is dominant latter is recessive.

it was so nice of him to answer so quickly! Finch people are so nice! Now I need to do some research and see what my pairing might produce. So fun!!!

[cindy]

Trish...I have a few females that look like yours, they are from the pair that John sent me. They also give off fawn Isabel. My FF and FS do give me fawn Isabel also but their silver females are a very soft white with light silver and the males are either Florida Fancy (white with orange cheeks and chestnut flanking) or Florida silvers like the one below...I like the silvers since they look soft.

[6finchfriends]

he's beautiful!!! The silvers are so striking! You sure have some beautiful Zebras! I find it so hard to pin down a mutation on a hen They don't have the markings the males do.
I have been worried my pair weren't feeding enough and the chicks would die but today it looks like the parents just dumped the food dish right down their throats! whew. I'm am relieved!

[cindy]

That is good news, glad they are taking care of the chicks. Did you read that when the chicks fledge you can tell by the tail feathers if you have penguins. When my very first penguin chick fledged the dad wanted it back in the nest, I saw the tail feathers and were thrilled, went to get the camera and came back to the cage to find dad plucked the chicks tail feathers. (first time parents...go figure!)

[6finchfriends]

I'll have to look that up! What do you look for on their tail?

[cindy]

The markings...there is an example on efinch

http://www.efinch.com/birdpix4/peng_tail.jpg

A normal has all the bars tht go across the tail, penguins do not. If you get bars like a normal you may have splits. which means you will need to take that young and breed it to another full penguin to get either all penguins or 50 penguins and 50 normal/split.

What is interesting is the young when they fledge look like normals, tear and all and as they molt the tear starts to get thinner and the line is not clear in spots almost like pieces are missing from it...it takes a while to really have them color up completely.