Aussie Finch Forum

hi there

I have a variety of finches in one little aviary , most being males other than 2 Zebras which are female , I find that some take a submissive stance and let the others pluck at their necks , the Ruddy is submissive to the Cordon Bleau , the Orange breasted submissive to the Ruddy , the zebra female preens the manikin male and the new zebra hen we have in there now and vice versa , some of them have NO feathers on their necks due to this comminuty "preening" is it preening or is it a form of dominance and bullying ?? :/ they all seem happy enough but I am a little worried JUST in case there may be tension in there and some arent happy.


thanks so much

How big is aviary? Is there too many birds at same perch level? maybe need some privacy perches..

Maybe they have mites.When ya worm your birds last ? Or there is maybe an aggressive bird that causing fights to pluck feathers from the neck

Mites aren't likely to cause feather loss just around the neck.

This sort of feather loss is most commonly seen in finches which have spent a lot of time in smaller cages in pet shops.

As VP has suggested it may well be an overcrowding issue and privacy perches may help.

hi there ,

thanks for the replies , I was reluctant to think it was mites as well , they did come from a pet shop in a flught cage which is what they are in now , we were told up to 18 can be in this cage but we have 13 , all pretty much came from the same store ... they have 2 long perches and then we have put some branches at the bottom for them to perch too ... is that whats considered a privacy perch ??? and in all honesty , I notice some of them WANTING to be neck pecked so to speak , so its not like they are scared and flying away , they are actually sidling up to the finchy they want to be groomed by .... I am just hoping its not a stress thing and its normal behaviour.

oh and i have since found out our zebras are males .. well at least one is , he has the cheeks and the black bar across his chest , the albino one has the same coloured beak so am thinking its a boy too ...