Aussie Finch Forum

Has this been posted before? my apologies if it has? But i am a bit confused-NO not generally-well actually yes generally too but that's for another forum.... anyhoo is there anywhere on the forum i can be linked to that can tell me the difference between a Parsons and a Hecks finch? Are they in the same family-or are the Hecks the longtails and well i dont know where the Parsons fit...
More to the point though -TEMPERAMENT- i want to get some of those lovely cream bibbed one's-i think they may be the Hecks type, but if both types come in this cream coloured type my question is which is a more docile or accepting temperament as i have read a little of both and that they are both aggressive-or can be.
But then i have also read things like my sea green parrot finches can be aggressive simply due to the fact that they are fast and dart around and annoy other people like the cordons, ruddies, OB's and goulds which is what i keep...so does anyone recommend keeping either Parsons or Hecks with Gouldians, Cordons, ruddies, seagreens, orange breasted' or not really? Sorry i have been so log winded.

I have kept ruddies and gold breasted with gouldians and there was no issues with any of them, all bred successfully.
With the name confusion, sorry cant help there, Im in the same boat!

From memory Parson has black beak Hecks has Red Beak....Both are worse then Parrot finches for disturbing other birds I found....I would rather have the Parrot finches as they dont pinch nesting material or nests of other finches like Hecks or Parsons....I bred many RFPF with Cordons, Goulds,Orange Breasts, Emblemas, all in same aviary with no problems at all...with pair of Parsons in there breeding dropped by 2/3rds ......so Parsons went off to their own aviary..put Masks in community aviary instead, and that went well also..

Parsons tend to be slightly more boisterous than longtails (heck's) although both can be disruptive to other finch nests in mixed aviaries. I know of a few people who keep both in productivce mixed aviaries BUT the most productive of these are large aviaries which are very lightly stocked. More confined quarters with higher density of birds will almost certainly lead to competition and nest interference problems. Parsons have black bill shorter tail & are a more stocky body shape compared to Heck's Longtails. Don't keep both together or crossbreeding is likely.

Isabella,they both come in the cream mutation if thats what you are refering to,if it was my choice i would have the hecks longtail as they arn't so boisterous and tend to build their own nest in the brush rather than in a box like parsons prefer in my exsperience. Cheers Craig PS keep up your good spirits

And cream parsons have red beaks (normal Parsons have black beaks) which does confuse the issue when comparing with hecks longtails which all have red beaks. Fortunately body shape is different and unsurprisingly longtails have long tails!

I find Cutthroats and Parsons mix well and breed well with each other due to same size and temperment