finch personalitys

[amalan11]

I would be interested in some ideas from people who are experienced about the general personality of different species.its not realy on the profiles of each bird ..
im just getting into buying different finchs and I find im getting differing advice as to which finchs are suitable for my set up and types,I have been told to get cubins by a couple of people yet others tell me cutthroats and cubins are very aggressive and need an avery to themselves.
I bought 2 painted finchs who were supposed to be fine with what I had but I realised after them hiding in the leaves for days that they were being harrased by the gouldians and on asking here was told that gouldians can be bullys..once the painted guys were seperated they were much less stressed and are fine with double bars and orange breasted waxbills..it just makes it hard to know what types are suitable so id be interested in peoples opinions to see which birds seem to come up as gentle,a bit of a bully or outright terrors!!

[dano_68]

Hi Amalan, welcome to the wonderful world of finches! lol

Firstly you need to tell us how big your aviary is because that will have a massive bearing on aggression.

Most aggression in typically non aggressive birds is always due to over crowding.

It could just be you have too many birds in one cage!

But in a nut shell - the waaaaaaaaay generalisation is:

Passive:
Double bars
Painteds
Plum Heads
Masks
Gouldians
Ruddys (only 1 pair)
St Helenas
Aurora
Orange Breasts
most Lonchura

boisterous but none aggressive (boisterous means they can be down right annoying to other finches)
Parrot finches
Longtails
Cut Throats
Red Headed finches
Golden Song Sparrow

Aggressive
Cubans
Crimsons (but some people can colony breed them!)
Beautiful Firetail
Saffron finch
Red crested finch
Rufous-backed mannikins (some not all)

this is just a quick off the top of my head list. There are lots more for each category.

But remember, even a little Ruddy will go nuts if it is crammed in with too many other birds!

[Jayburd]

seems about right,
just to clarify though, with crimsons and cubans it depends on the pair some are horrible some pair are nice.
I think Ruddies are pretty ok. I have kept 2 pair together, no probs.

[Myzomela]

And any advice offered is of a general nature. Individual birds can always break the rules- that's biology for you!
So after you've done your research and bought your birds, always monitor how they settle in together. Observation is an important key to successful birdkeeping of any type.
Good luck!!

[amalan11]

yes thanks,Its just interesting how some finchs do seem to have a bad reputation in terms of being territorial.I guess thats it just observing .I have had the zebs for years and they are generaly a lovely plasid bird yet I now have one female who is a shocker,very moody she will go through stages where she chases other girls and swings them by their wing off a perch...she has had to be moved into an old cage with her boy as otherwise im sure she will bump off another female finch one day!!!
I have big a wheel type cage 180x130x110 in which I have 10 zebs and 4 society finchs
and 3 large breeding cabnets 90x90x70 in which are
2 stars and 2 plumheads
4 goulds (they are trouble)
2 emblemas and 4 double bars and 2 orange brested waxbills
I find they all get on fine like that and all have seperate nests and seem to respect them...
but everyone seems to have different ideas,im thinking in time id like the cordon blu and african fire finch and thats it but for now I will just see how these go
as id need more cages obvisly

[dano_68]

I have big a wheel type cage 180x130x110 in which I have 10 zebs and 4 society finchs
and 3 large breeding cabnets 90x90x70 in which are
2 stars and 2 plumheads
4 goulds (they are trouble)
2 emblemas and 4 double bars and 2 orange brested waxbills

Hi again Amalan,

well, as i thought, there is your problem...only in my opinion you have waaaaaaaaay too many finches in there lol

As a basic rule of thumb I calculate how many pairs I can keep by this simple equation: Total flight cubed / 1m cubed

EG. 180x130x110 = 2. 574 - round down = 2 then divide that by 1 = 2 pairs maximum. We round down to allow for future young.
EG. 90x90x70 = 0.567 - round up (to get a positive number) = 1 then divide that by 1 = 1 pair maximum

The last one makes complete sense because cabinets are designed to house 1 breeding pair!

Another way to think about it is to allow 1 cubic meter per pair.

Don't feel bad, EVERY bird keeper in the world has been guilty of over stocking our aviaries...it's a psychological thing lol

I am the first to admit I used to suffer from the "I can fit one more pair in - that wont do any harm..."

But experience has taught me that less is better.

I hope this helps.

[amalan11]

hmm yes its hard as until you get them you cannot see how they interact.the zebs and societys seem ok as that level keeps them from breeding and they seem fine together.The others im thinking I may need to make a couple more cages for so they will breed ,as they are they get on fine but Im sure they are too crowded to breed..
the goulds though have a divided breeder but i keep the divider out as they realy enjoy the extra space,theres only 4 of them but a pair have very little space in just one side,The place I brought them said one pair were fine in one side but it seems cruel to me on a perminent basis

[Jayburd]

Cordon Bleus in my opinion are thoroughly unfit for cages. They should be housed in an aviary, preferably planted, at least 2m square and 1.5m high. I know others will differe but I get so sad seeing such beautiful and active birds cooped up in cages especially breeding cabinets.

[amalan11]

ok,thanks jay good to know I will give them a miss unless I can get an avery then

[Jayburd]

glad to see you're taking the advice like I said I find it sad when I see them in cages