Red-billed Fire Finch

alex · Post by **alex** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 11:17 am

I was looking for information about whether I could house other passive finches with a couple of Red-billed Fire Finches.

However they are not mentioned in this list : http://www.finchinfo.com/housing/compatible_species.php

In which category would you place this bird ? Passive ? Pushy ?

Post by **Sally** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 10:44 pm

I have a pair of Fire finches, and they are passive birds. I know Hilary has kept a pair of them in a breeding cage with a pair of Goldbreasts, and now I am doing the same, and they get along fine. I also have an odd Fire finch hen, which is in my community flight cage.

alex · Post by **alex** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 11:16 am

Sweet. I really like those birds and wanted to make sure they were not potential trouble-makers if I had a chance to get a couple. Thanks for the info.

I'm already disappointed enough to see the Green Singing and the Lavender in the "Pushy" list.

While at it, anyone has similar information about Zosterops ? (Indian (White-Eye) Zosterop to be exact). Those birds are rarely mentionned along waxbills and finches but I am wondering if they could eventually be a potential addition to my family.

Post by **Hilary** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 2:44 pm

My fire finches do great caged (in 30x18x18) with a pair of goldbreasts. Zero aggression problems. One pair of FF has successfully raised chicks in this setup, and the other is laying now. When they had chicks in the nest the male would chase off nosey GBs, but even that just involved kind of darting at them - when the GBs moved on, the FF male just went back to his lookout perch.

I haven't tried to put my lavenders in with anybody else, but am thinking of trying. The male can get pretty bad chasing the female around (for one pair I finally hung plastic plants from the top of the cage to give her something to fly behind until he settled down), but other than that they all seem very calm.

The only Zosterops I've seen were free-flying in bird rooms. You can try emailing Robert Mehl to see what advice he can give - I know he has them (RobertMehl@aol.com) or call Connie Gaham, who also has them (215-536-1599). No promises that they're specifically the ones you're asking about, but I know they're white-eye zosterops!

alex · Post by **alex** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 8:01 pm

what about green-singing ? would be worth trying or would be a lost cause ?

Post by **Sally** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:05 am

Green Singers are listed at the FIC as pushy. I have two pair, but they are set up in their own cages, one pair to a cage. One of the males is very aggressive. When he didn't have a mate, I tried him in various cages, and he was aggressive to just about all other birds. If you want a passive community, I would pass on the Green Singers.

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 7:22 am

I would put firefinches in the passive category. Mine are housed with gouldians, emblemas, societies(bengalese), red cheeked cordons, st helena waxbills and a few more varieties and I have not had a single problem with any of them.

http://www.avianweb.com/redbilledfirefinches.html

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:54 am

What are your thoughts on the Lavenders? I really want a pair, but it would be in an open mixed aviary. Do you think this would work?