May 17
4
Society Finches
Society Finches
Light and Dark Brown
This one is “crested” with a funny hair-do! 🙂
Identification: The pied society finch (North America) or Bengalese finch (elsewhere), Lonchura striata domestica or L. domestica, is a popular cage bird not found in the wild. Although their history is not clear, the Society Finch was developed through selective breeding of other finches, and its ancestry included the White-rump (or White-rumped) Mannikin Lonchura finches.
Because the Society Finch is so tolerant of others, they do well housed with other species and are often used as foster parents for other finch species. I use them to foster Lady Gouldian finches who tend to throw their offspring out of the nest!
Society Finches like to be close together and tend to all roost in one nest if kept in a group. In an aviary they lay eggs and crowd into a single nest, interfering with incubation (which is performed by the female and lasts 16 days) or damaging the eggs. Thus they breed better if kept as single pairs in individual breeding boxes.
Geography: Asia
Song: The Bengalese song tends to be a squeaky warble or rattle of notes. Songs vary among individual males and may sound more like the song of the male who raised them (even if fostered by a different species).
Size / Weight: 5″ / 11 gm
Live Span: 7 to 8 years
Sexing: Society finches are unable to be sexed visually. You need to catch the male when he sings and dances, wanting to court the female. The female lays eggs! That’s a sure way of knowing! It’s very hard to determine their sex unless you watch them for a while!
Temperament: The Society Finch is one of the most peaceful of finches. It is gregarious, calm and social with others of their own species as well as other finch species. They are rarely aggressive and will be the first to back down if confronted by another, more aggressive finch.
Breeding: Society finches are easy to breed.
Diet: Classic Finch Seed, Dried Egg food, Mineral Grit, Cuttlefish Bone
Email me for availability
lorettasbirds@gmail.com
