Flock Update!

[MiaCarter]

afinch -- I think that sounds like a good plan - waiting another week.

It would actually work out nicely if Pippin is female, as that would make for a better pairing with Piper. Male/female pairings are always better than male/male.
I'd never breed them, of course, but they're closely bonded and pretty antisocial with the others, so it just makes sense to leave them together as a pair.

[afinch]

afinch -- I think that sounds like a good plan - waiting another week.

It would actually work out nicely if Pippin is female, as that would make for a better pairing with Piper. Male/female pairings are always better than male/male.
I'd never breed them, of course, but they're closely bonded and pretty antisocial with the others, so it just makes sense to leave them together as a pair.

Just be careful because they will try to find a way to breed lol.

[MiaCarter]

afinch -- Yeah, I'm sure they will, as birds don't view incest as a taboo! (Which is odd when you think about it. Inbreeding is not genetically wise, so you'd think they'd have a natural aversion.)

But that's okay. I won't be giving them a nest and I'll notice if they take up residence in the food bowl! LOL

[Sheather]

Mia it occurs to me that on closer inspection of your Silva, she looks almost identical to my Wendy May - that is, she appears to be a hybrid.

Notice her paler breast and face, and the small white patch on her rump. I've learned that African silverbills never have white rumps and generally have faces and chests equally dark as the rest of the back and body. Conversely, Indian silverbills have much paler, sometimes almost white faces and chests, and big white rumps. Our two birds fall right in between.

Comparison of the two pure species.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU_yhIHttkQ

[MiaCarter]

Sheather -- You know, I think you may be spot on with this!

Do your African Silverbills have white in their tails?

Silva DOES have white in her tail and I don't remember seeing that in an African Silverbills that I've had before.

But I know Indian Silverbills DO have white in the tail, just like on that video you mentioned.

And look at this page....
http://www.efinch.com/species/silverbill.htm

Silva looks almost exactly like the Indian Silverbill on that page.
She doesn't have the ruddy tan face of the Africans.

I think she may very well be a pure Indian Silverbill looking a bit closer!

I need to get some better photos for an analysis!

Do you have a pic of little miss Wendy May? (She sounds like she'd be good in a flock of down home southern birds with my Molly Sue! A well-named flock would be something like Molly Sue, Wendy May, Hannah Jo, Billy Bob.....and then something random, like George. LOL)

Little Silva is doing so well, by the way!
She's so happy!
We had a mix-up. I had my husband put the birds away the other day at the end of free fly. And he somehow mistook Juliette, a little zebra hen, for Silva (despite the ORANGE beak on a bird that's called a SILVERbill. LOL)
He didn't see Silva sitting on top of the nest and put Juliette in there, thinking it was Silva. (That's what she gets for being the one bird who makes you catch her to get her to go home! LOL)

Of course, Silva is still on quarantine and doesn't participate in free fly. I didn't discover it until the next morning, so the damage was done.
I came in in the AM and they were cuddled together, preening each other!
That was fast! Now I see why they said they'd put the bullied finches in with Silva at the pet store. She's an absolute sweetheart!

They're the best of friends now! It's so darn sweet. Silva spends all day chirping non-stop and bopping around with Juliette. They're such a sweet little pair.
Juliette was a third-wheel with a society and zebra pair, so this works out beautifully. I was planning on trying to pair her with Squeepers, but he doesn't pay much attention to her during free fly and he was too stressed to notice her when I tried to cage them together.
So we'll find someone else for him. He's more than happy to stay with mum and dad, so there's no hurry, I guess.

Anyways, can't wait to see your Wendy May!!

[Sheather]

Ha Wendy May is actually my single male in the trio, but the old owners said he was the single hen.... nope! xD He's now forever unfortunately named like your Molly Sue.

My two hens, who I believe are pure Africans, have no white in the tail at all and look exactly alike the African Silverbills on your linked site.

I'll try to get a picture of Wendy for you, but to be honest, he looks identically to Silva in those photos of her.

I might rehome the two hens and only keep Wendy, depending, since I don't want to breed him with them as he's not pure and pure silverbills are becoming rare in the hobby. Wendy is entirely indifferent to them and spends all of his time attached at the hip to Lyra, a little white society finch outcast. He sings and hops to her all day, poor guy, but she has no interest in anything but a platonic friendship as of yet. I've actually heard the two silverbills, particularly the Indian, are more closely related to society finches than to one another, so that may explain his mate preferences.

[MiaCarter]

Sheather -- That's hilarious that Wendy May is a boy like my Molly Sue!

So, what makes you think they're not pure Indian Silverbills?
What am I missing?
What feature do Silva and Wendy May have that they shouldn't? (Or vice versa?)

Aw, I hope Lyra accepts him! Society finches don't seem to bond with a single bird the way some other species do. But if they're alone together, that should help her bond with him.
They always seem so much happier when they're bonded with another.

[Sheather]

Pure Indian silverbills have entirely white rumps, nearly white faces, and a cooler body tone overall than Africans. Hybrids have the same ruddy color of Africans, but paler bellies and faces and a small, irregularly shaped white rump spot, but not an entirely white rump. The eyes are larger, and lack as prominent of a grey ring.



Compare Silva.

[finchmix22]

Sheather
I can't see the rumps,but Silva looks pretty much the same as the picture.

[Sheather]

No, Silva is a warm brown. The Indian silverbill is greyish with white underparts and a richer, darker, two-toned beak.