Echo's Haven
Macaw Rescue
Sanctuary
The Complete
Bird Community
Our goal is to provide a free-flight home for formerly abused, unwanted or problem Macaws.
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Echo's Haven |
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Our goal is to provide a free-flight home for formerly abused, unwanted or problem Macaws. |
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Zebra Finches
by Len LaRiccia of Bird Crazy
Birds can bring the out-of-doors into your home, just as plants do, but even more dramatically. One or more Finches in a cage, even if you never breed them, can add life to a home through color, sound and activity. That's reason enough for many people to own these wonderful birds. They are not as loud as dogs, or as bossy as cats, and not as sensitive as fish. Every kind of pet has it's own virtues, of course, but for many people Finches can be the ideal pet. There are many types of Finches, including the Zebra, Spice, Lady Gouldian, African, Society and Mannequin. Some types such as the Society Finch, have been created by man.
Today we are going to look at the Zebra Finches. Some Zebra Finches, like the English, Zebra tend to be larger than most members of the Finch group and have several color variations. One nice thing about Zebra Finches is you can tell the males from the females. It is easy to tell the male Finch from the female Finch. The males have deep red beaks and the females have orange beaks.
The Zebra Finch is a very active, social bird, but is not known to have a good temperament when put into a mixed collection of Finches. They can become very aggressive. The Zebra Finch can be very vocal at times. It has also been recently proven that some Finches can be taught how to speak. This is not a common thing with Finches, though. It was thought at one time that the Finch did not have the capability to speak. Zebra Finches do well in large groups or small pairs. The key factor for any aviary setting is not to have two pair, or four birds, in a cage. They will end up fighting like the Hatfields and Macoys.You also need to be aware of how many females compared to how many males you have. If you have extra females in the cage, you will probably have some husband stealing. If you choose to own more than one pair, you need a large enough cage for them to fly comfortably. Remember they need to get their exercise like the rest of us. Zebra Finches generally tend to make great parents. They breed very abundantly and overproduction can be a problem. Some of the females will even breed with various partners, or even leave the mate to finish hatching the eggs. The female will then take a new mate, if one is available, to produce even more babies. Finch eggs take ten days to hatch and babies tend to leave the nest at three weeks of age. It's important to remember that Finches need to have food at all times. They have an extremely fast metabolism, like the hummingbird, and will not do well if they have long periods in-between feedings. Their diet includes grit, seeds, fruit, and veggies. If you have an outside aviary, they even like small bugs such as flies, gnats or meal worms. San Diego is lucky to have it's own native breed of Finch. Our climate is ideal for this bird, but it is always important to acclimate them to our weather in good conditions - not too hot or not too cold - to let them adjust to our climate. The Finch is a hearty little bird. They are not prone to a lot of diseases and are relatively inexpensive. A starter pair can cost as little as $13. They are the ideal pet for beginners and gift certificates can be purchased and make great Holiday presents. Bird Crazy suggests that you research the different types of Finches before making your purchase
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