Aussie Finch Forum

Hi again, another question:

I have done a bit of prelim research on finches that might be good for a beginner: One that is highly recommend is the Society Finch> Others have cited the good ol' Zebra Finch - but I have read they are quite aggressive and wouldn't be a good choice for a mixed flock, which I intend to focus on as a goal for my large aviary. In the meantime, would society finches cope well in a flight cage until I get around to planning and building my aviary? I was thinking maybe two or three males to get me started.

Any other recommendations on finches for newbies is greatly appreciated!

Thanks again

Adrian

I would suggest that the STAR FINCH and the EMBLEMA would be ideal Australian finchs for a beginner.

Totally agree on the Emblema, such a laid back finch, colourful, available in two colours (but best kept separate) interesting call too. Cant say Ive ever seen any friction between each other or other species. The hippie of the finch world!

Stars I haven't had an experience with, but I read they can be quite skittish off the nest if they are disturbed, but as it would be intended to start off with all same sex this wouldnt really matter.

One thing to be aware of though. Getting single males would be the most colourful way to go and getting single males would probably be quite easy. However once you decide that you would like to expand into getting some females, this could present a problem as Ive found sellers prefer to sell pairs and usually have excess of single males so are quite happy to part with them.

Thanks for those recommendations. If I were to buy males, is it best to stick to even numbers or would three males be ok in both species? This is assuming I have a flight cage big enough for four birds?
And I assume that I culd have Stars and Emblema males in the same cage>?

thanks for your help

cheers

Adrian

The major issues with multiple males that if/when you get a female then , in many species, the males will hound the poor female.

The standard rule seems to be to have excess females rather than excess males.

Bengos, Painteds and Zebs are all fairly easy birds that you could put a pair of in a cage about a metre square and (1 pair of birds not 1 of each) get started. Though with Bengos go for 3 birds as miss sexing is frequent.
LML