Stars, are they male/female or ???

rkn · Post by **rkn** » Sat May 03, 2008 11:38 am

I took a few pics of my newest finches and would like opinions on my star pair. I do think one is male as he sings and appears more colorful then the other. However the other sings a low pitched noise not even close to the male and I am confused if i got a m/f pair. See what you think. pics at link.

http://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=rkn&AID=5127012

Do female stars have some type of song? The male's is nice and hugh pitched so very different yet both seem to sing to each other. lol

also my male owl is a HAM! the more I tried to get pics of the stars he kept jumping in front of the camera! he is NOT shy towards people...is odd.

Thanks,
Rita

jamezyboo21 · Post by **jamezyboo21** » Sat May 03, 2008 12:02 pm

i dont know really anything bout star finches but, i think you might have a male and a female because i saw a pic before of a male and a female and the male had more red around the face and the female didnt have as much.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Sat May 03, 2008 2:07 pm

Yes you definitely have a m/f pair - the male has the large red mask and more pronounced dots or stars. The female has the smaller red mask and duller dots or stars. Congratulations - they look beautiful and are now on my wishlist too!!

Post by **Sally** » Sat May 03, 2008 4:02 pm

I agree that you have a male/female pair. The male's face color extends well past his eye, and his 'stars' are very pronounced. The female's mask goes just to the eye, and her overall coloring is not as distinct as the male. Only males sing, but are you sure she is singing. Many of my finches 'talk' to each other, soft little murmurings, quite different from a song or a call. It takes a while to learn all these little 'words'. I never heard the chattering that my RCCB's now make till their babies fledged--now they scold me every time I come near their cage, but they never did it when the babies were still in the nest.

rkn · Post by **rkn** » Sat May 03, 2008 6:36 pm

I do think she is singing but she looks like a female! She sits and puffs up ever so slightlu, and sings a low pitched song to the other star and also anyone who'll listen to her. I have heard that in rare circumstances a female sings but never had one and am too new to finches to know what's going on.

I got onto the finch board and listened (borrowed a comptuer with speakers and sound capablitities) to the link of the star song, that certainly sounds like my male but the other is completely different sounding. Either way is neat as i love the sounds all the different species make! I got 8 varieties living in peace and they are so busy doing what they do and almost always someone is singing.

rkn

williep · Post by **williep** » Tue May 06, 2008 7:37 am

rkn, in some case the female tries to imitate the male's song as part of the courtship ritual, but the signing ability of the female is limited. I can always tell when my male sings as he as quite a range while the female will try this and only manage a note or two

rkn · Post by **rkn** » Tue May 06, 2008 12:09 pm

Oh I never thought of that. am a newbie...she seems to like to imitate all the friends around her...she's happy!

rkn