my zebra finch returns!!!!!!!

mattyb802 · Post by **mattyb802** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:57 am

hi again i put a video on youtube of my zebra finches outdoors the link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvwzYr_dFCU there are two videos 1 shows them flying its quite hard to see them in the air so watch the first 1 in high quality the link i gave you is for the second one this shows them
picking about on the patio and flying back to their cage!!! send me a reply if u watched it to let me no what you think!!!

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 7:16 am

Wow....that was a great video! They seem to really be enjoying to be able to go about and pick on the ground....especially checking out the cracks in the cement. I hope they will always come back to the home base for you and not fly off somewhere. Do you ever have to worry about hawks in your area? Wouldn't want them to be lunch for another predator!

And I had to laugh each time you showed the dogs out in the grass...they hardly moved at all compared to the finches....must have been naptime...lol.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 8:27 am

Sweet video.

mattyb802 · Post by **mattyb802** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 6:21 pm

FeatherHarp wrote:Wow....that was a great video! They seem to really be enjoying to be able to go about and pick on the ground....especially checking out the cracks in the cement. I hope they will always come back to the home base for you and not fly off somewhere. Do you ever have to worry about hawks in your area? Wouldn't want them to be lunch for another predator!

And I had to laugh each time you showed the dogs out in the grass...they hardly moved at all compared to the finches....must have been naptime...lol.

thanks for watching ye they love it outdoors but love going back in also. ye they love picking in those cement cracks!! wel there are a few hawks about but i be out with the finches and scare off any hawks that i think look hungry!!!!to be honost the native wild finches such as european goldfinches,green finches etc ,sparrows,blue tits and wagtails dont tolerate them at all!!!they chase them around until they return to their cage do you know why they do this???its very annoying as sometimes it ends in physical fighting!!the dogs ye the black 1 is 16 years old so hes quite lazy but still hangign on and the white fella chases cats all day!!!!!lol the zebra finches do wander off really far until they are out of sight even with the use of binoculars and retaurn about 20 mins later but my heart does jump!!!!lolthanks again for the reply!!

bonnies_gouldians · Post by **bonnies_gouldians** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:36 am

Matty that really is not a good thing when you think about it. Invasive species is one of the biggest problems for the environment today, aside from pollution from people and destruction of native habitat.

Please please please use caution when releasing these finches. I know it may seem awesome that they come back and nice that they get to stretch their wings, but in the end it can be VERY bad for the environment and local species.

I am not a tree hugger, but being a florida native we seem to be the poster child of the continental US for invasive animals/plants and the destruction that they cause. We have lost more native species than anywhere else because of people releasing either purposely or accidentally. PLEASE THINK OF YOUR NATIVE BIRDS!!

mattyb802 · Post by **mattyb802** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:14 pm

bonnies_gouldians wrote:Matty that really is not a good thing when you think about it. Invasive species is one of the biggest problems for the environment today, aside from pollution from people and destruction of native habitat.

Please please please use caution when releasing these finches. I know it may seem awesome that they come back and nice that they get to stretch their wings, but in the end it can be VERY bad for the environment and local species.

I am not a tree hugger, but being a florida native we seem to be the poster child of the continental US for invasive animals/plants and the destruction that they cause. We have lost more native species than anywhere else because of people releasing either purposely or accidentally. PLEASE THINK OF YOUR NATIVE BIRDS!!

o dont worry i am very environmently friendly myself,b4 letting them out i looked up on the internet about zebra finches and it is not possible for them to survive a winter here in ireland it just rains to much and is to cold so i dont think that would be an issue of them becoming invasive here maybe in florida but certainly not here!!!!!thanks for letting me know anyway!!!:)o and by the way the native birds dont like my zebra finches and the odd time attack them!!!!so i take it they just dont like new comers !!!

bonnies_gouldians · Post by **bonnies_gouldians** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:03 pm

Good to hear that weather would likely not permit them to establish. Just know that they said brown anoles wouldnt make it past Central Florida and now they are all the way up to North Carolina (over 600 miles north) and they said green iguanas would never survive north of lake okachobee (spelling?) and they have been spotted loose in orlando, florida (a few hours drive north of the lake). It only takes a few that are able to survive to pass on their genes and establish a population.