where do wild finches take shelter?

robinteo · Post by **robinteo** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:22 am

Hi all, anyone of you know where do finches in the wild take shelter in the evening, hot days and rainy days? In the cage we make shelter for them, just wondering how they survive out in the wild. I have heard someone mentioned they settled in tree holes. If so, what kind of trees are these, and what made the holes in the trees in the first place? Finches and canaries are not as good when it comes to wet whether since their feather tend to get soaked easily. On the other hand, wild birds ie. waterslagers, crows, or magpies seems to have waterproof feathers as they can wander a bit in the rain.

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:55 pm

I believe most of the finch species we keep are from mild climates, so they wouldn't have to deal with the extreme cold and wet.

I know our native birds roost up under the house eaves, under my porch roof, under window awnings, etc. They are very good at finding places to get in out of the cold rain.

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 9:16 pm

most of the australian finches that we breed do find shelter sometimes in hollowed out logs and trees that other species have left behind

ken

reddstagg · Post by **reddstagg** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:10 am

According the a magazine i picked up today 'Just Finches and softbills' Australian Finches (Zebra's, Double Bars, masked, Longtails) shelter in nests.

The article a 'Yankeein the Outback'... the author was mentioning how the flocks he spotted didn't have juvenile birds, and then when he located the nests... he noticed they didn't have lining in them... the flocks werent breeding because of the droughts... but the birds still used the nest to roost in ... not breeding nests... so i'm led to believe they roost in nests.

I doubt whole flocks of 200+ birds would roost inside hollowed logs... individuals might... but i'm sure flocks, while nomadic, would setup a nesting area together in a certain neighbour hood close to a waterhole... even if its just to roost in... safety in numbers