Indigo Blue Female Plucking Males Head?

[Starfiregal92]

I recently got a pair of Indigo Blue finches from someone and when I got them home I noticed the male's head was balding. The next day his head had even less feathers and some dried blood. I have them in a 6 foot indoor aviary with several other finches, I assumed the female is plucking his head so I separated them (even though I never actually witnessed any plucking). It's been about a week now that they've been separated. He's just now starting to grow them back, so she must have been plucking them. Can anyone tell me why she would be plucking them and possibly how to get her to stop so they can be together. He really wants to be with her. I have another 6 foot aviary of Zebras I have right next to it (that's where I put the female Indigo Blue) and the male keeps hanging around that side of the cage. I'm afraid to put them back together because she made in up really damaging his head. What do I do?

[Lisa]

Were they the only two birds in that 6 foot aviary?

If not, it could have been one of the other birds also.

If it was the female, she may be wanting to nest and decided that his head feathers make good nesting material! Or she could be over-zealous preening. Does she seem aggressive or annoyed at all with him or is she mainly chummy? If she's chummy, I'd say she's looking for nesting materials.

[Starfiregal92]

No, I have 2 Javas, 2 Orange Weavers, 3 Gold Breasted Waxbills, 3 Canaries and 6 Gouldians in that aviary. But when I got the Indigo Blue pair, I noticed his head balding before I put them in with the others and the original owner had only both of them together so I think it has to be the female. I've never noticed her being aggressive at all and they do hang out with each other. Maybe it is that she's looking for nesting material. I bought some coconut fibers (I heard birds love that stuff!) I'll put some in there and she if they use it. I really hope she doesn't continue to pluck his head.

[wellingtoncdm]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Where are you located? Are you referring to indigo buntings? They are known to be aggressive to each other as well as other birds.

[Starfiregal92]

Hi, thank you. I'm In Florida. Yes, Indigo Buntings. I always forget their actual name so I just say Indigo Blue and figure people would know what I'm talking about. I was unaware that they are known to be aggressive toward each other, only because I haven't witnessed any aggression between them and I've sat for over an hour just watching them sometimes. Is there anything I could do to prevent this from happening if it is aggression and not a nesting thing with the female?

[wellingtoncdm]

Where did you get them from? I am sure you didn't know this but indigo buntings are a protected native species and they are illegal to keep in the US.

[Starfiregal92]

Thank you for letting me know, some one also private messaged me. I had no idea, I also had no idea they are even from the US. I've never seen a wild one. Upon receiving your reply and that message, I did research and couldn't find anything about not being able to own them. During the research I found pictures of wild ones, and I don't think mine looks much like them. He is definitely way less blue and skinny (as in he doesn't look puffed like all the google images I found, I've never seen him puff once). I took some pictures of him. (Also I took a pic of his bald head if you guys wanted to see). I don't know how to make them an attachment though. Could someone help me with that?

[Starfiregal92]

Oh and I got them from an older lady who said she got them at a bird show.

[Jasmin]

If you click on "post reply" at the top of the page, underneath the thread title, you will be able to post a reply and attach a picture like you would in an email.

If you respond using the "quick reply" function at the bottom of the thread, you can't attach any pictures.

Took me a while to figure that out

[Starfiregal92]

Thanks Jasmin. I probably would have never figured that out without your help

[Jasmin]

You're welcome

Regarding the agression...I think I would either put the pair together or put him back in the aviary when I'm home for a chunk of the day and just really observe what's going on, so you can find the real culprit

The advice I've always heard from breeders when introducing a new bird or pair into an existing colony is to remove all the birds, rearrange the perches etc in the cage, and then re-introduce them back in the cage at the same time - this should supposedly eliminate any territorial/agression problems.

With your 2 Indigos being the new kids, it's possible they invaded another's territory and maybe experienced a little beating as a warning.

I have 4 Gouldian males and 2 RCCB in one cage and it's ridiculous how much the Gouldians fight over perches and sleeping spots right before bedtime. For about 1/2 hour they absolutely terrorize one another until they settle in. No damage/feather loss/bleeding however. But I can definetly see how important territory is to these guys...

[Starfiregal92]

I really don't think the other finches are doing anything to him. I really think it was the female since he was already balding before I put them in with all the others. I do actually sit for an hour or more at a time just to watch them (I absolutely love watching my finches, they're mesmerizing). They all get along perfectly and I almost never see any fighting between them. The worst fighting I've seen was one of the gouldians landed next to a java and the java just pecked the gouldians back slightly. I think I will just keep the 2 Indigos separate for now only because his head is starting to look better since I separated them.

[Ursula]

I did research and couldn't find anything about not being able to own them.

Unfortunately it really is illegal, if they are Indigo buntings. Check out this site http://myfwc.custhelp.com/app/answers/d ... rotection. and from there you can get to the list of birds which also includes the Indigo bunting: http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/Regul ... ndx.html#b

It seems to be an Indigo bunting from what I can see, although in very bad shape. I am glad that you are nuturing him back to health. But if I was you I'd check with authorities or a nearby wildlife center. You might get a permit if the bird is sick and you can prove that you provide proper environment for them. And, much more important, if you disclose your source you might be able to prevent other poor wildbirds from being caught and sold as pets...

[Starfiregal92]

I got him on craigslist from what looked like a 60 something year old woman. She had several cages on her porch with all kinds of birds. Javas, Zebras, Canaries, Parakeets, etc. All small birds. She said she got them from a bird show 2 years ago.

I've also seen them from other people on craigslist at least 3 times in the last 6 months. I'm not so sure they are actual indigo buntings because to me they really don't look like the one's I found on google images.

[Ursula]

I just googled blue finches and there's a yellow beaked blue finch, but that's not yours either. I'm afraid that the closest yours looks like with the dark wing bars is really the indigo bunting. Just because people sell them on craigslist doesn't make them legal...