Aussie Finch Forum

Hi all
I have stupidly left it too long to separate the young from the parents. (Newbie error). I think I have separated them correctly, can anyone confirm by looking at these pics
Thanks

Top pictures - hens
Bottom picture - cocks

I think the cock on the right would be the father. As for the hens its a bit harder to tell.

Cheers Ian

Ian's on the money with cock's I reckon. Hen's are not as easy to pick but the middle one has slightly more red on the face & the other 2 have very similar extra spotting up to the red belly patch, so I'd guess the middle hen is mum (with heart in mouth).
Might need to catch them out earlier next time or better still ring the parents.

I agree with tiaris about the hens, if you look at the legs and feet the younger ones are darker. I did the same thing a couple of years back. Also if you catch them up the mum will be darker almost black under her tail whereas the young hens will be light to dark brown. Cheers

The bird on the left in the lower photo keeps sitting in the nest on 4 eggs. Do the males sit as well? I thought the 3 in the photo by themselves were all coloured up the same amount, so I thought they might have been siblings. I am waiting for some leg rings to arrive so I don't have this problem again.

If they're on eggs then ring them all with different colours and watch who is incubating. Both hen and cock share incubation duties and if the young ones have recently coloured they wont be sitting.

I agree with Iaos and Tiaris.Also looking at the middle hens spots they look slightly larger compared to other two hens.

Hi sorry it's me again, I think I have it right this time. The sisters are in one photo together and I think the mother is in the other photo. I have learned a very valuable lesson in the art of ring identification. Hopefully I never make this mistake again. Ring whilst they are identifiable!!

anyone with any ideas?

Looks right to me - in the photos, mum has a bit of red behind the eye. You could try counting the spots...?