peaceful aviary now upset...help

[lisamariebrom]

I have two flight cages, in one cage is my male & female strawberry finches. In my other cage is two black bellied fire finches male & female plus a blue billed fire finch 3 total...all was well until I went to the bird mart and bought a male /female cordon bleu and a pair male/ female owl finch.

I added my owls with the strawberries and the cordon bleu with the fire finches. for the last 3 days I have noticed my female strawberry at the bottom of the cage hiding from the owls, (i use the presence app on my phone to watch the birds while Im at work) My strawberries are my favorite birds so I cannot have them being bothered. I came home today and switched out the owls and put the cordon bleus in with the strawberries, within minutes they were all sitting together peaceful and happy.

I added the owls to my fire finches and although its only been an hour the owls are so dang bossy, I am hoping they settle down with the fire finches. any experience mixing owls with other finches? what are good combos? do you think they will be ok with the fire finches eventually?
I had owls many years ago with a mixed aviary, no problem, but these two are trouble ...any and all ideas welcome.

[jimenezl]

how large are the flights? You may need another cage.

[Stuart whiting]

how large are the flights? You may need another cage.

For the size of the bicheno ( owl ) finches they can be quite boystress at times but I'd say yer best bet is to have another cage available if the bicheno's continue to be a nuisance

[lisamariebrom]

40 inches wide
27 inches tall
24 inches deep

[Stuart whiting]

40 inches wide
27 inches tall
24 inches deep

Being onest mate that should be plenty of room but if the bicheno's ( owl ) finches persist to bully the other birds you'll need to take the bicheno's out and put into another cage

[GouldieFledge]

lisamariebrom

According to finch calculator, those dimensions should fit 3-4 birds. I thought fire finches were difficult to house other finches with, but I could be wrong here.

How's the layout of your flights? Do the birds have plenty of foliage and perches to hide/have their own spaces throughout the flights?

[Sally]

Some Owls can be pushy, it just depends on the individual. They are related to Zebra finches, so that may account for some of them being a bit bossy. If things don't settle down, they may have to be moved to their own cage. Even when the compatibility chart says birds should get along, you can always have an individual or two that don't follow the rules.

[lisamariebrom]

UPDATE after living with the owl finches it is clear that they cannot co exist with my other birds. If anyone is in the southern california area and is interested in some owls please let me know. Thank you for everyones input on this post.