Hello From The Isle Of Wight :)

[syks 0]

Hi people,thought i best say hello about 2 weeks ago i was given for free a pair of zebra finches,i had a few years ago when i was young (about 12 lol) that i bred with success but at the time knew very little about them,i still know very little now if im honest.

 

I have been told by an expert they are both males,i believe one is a black cheek as it has black cheeks lol but not sure on the other which is white,when i got them they were in a tiny cage and i mean tiny,in the 2 weeks they were in there they have both put on quite a bit of weight.

 

Today i bought a secondhand cage and the lady threw in 3 silver bills they look lovely little things and so far are getting on with the 2 zebras amazingly well!! im not sure the sex of the 3 but 1 of them is slightly darker in colour than the other 2,my new cage isnt massive but its a vast improvement on the first cage which was something like 16" long,the new cage is roughly 2 1/2 ft square and 5ft high.

 

After reasurching on the net it appears even this is a little small for 5 finches so in the future i will upgrade again but like i said they all seem very happy in there and im NOT going to be breeding them.

 

Its quite hard to find finches over here so i feel very happy with my little birds and i hear the silver bills are quite rare.

 

Anyhow thats enough babbling lol cant wait to get in on some of the discussions and to learn a bit more about my finches

 

Oh i love the song of the zebras,they sound amazing when they get going,im yet to hear a full song from the silver bills,they mostly do little sqeeks at the moment.

 

Thanks

 

Luke

[Andyn 534]

_{Hi Luke,}

 

_{Welcome to the forum. Did your post disapear for a day or two? I'm surprised that no one else has seen it until now.}

 

_Enjoy!!!

 

_Andy

[casamber 60]

Hi Luke and welcome to the forum

 

If you post some pictures of your zebs we can help you identify them. I dont know a thing about silverbills though lol

 

Kerry

[Emmy 528]

Sorry Luke seems I've missed this post too?? But a belated Welcome to the forum.

 

What are 'silver bills?'

 

This is something that Mark1e posted a while ago it may help you identify various colours of finches

 

Timor My linkPieds My linkWhite My linkCFWs My linkRecessive Dilutes My linkDominant Dilutes My linkFawn Cheeked My linkGrey Cheeked My linkBlack Cheeked My linkBlack Faced My linkPenquin My linkIsabel My linkOrange Breasted My linkBlack Breasted My linkLightbacks My linkFawns My linkGrey My linkCrested My linkGrizzle My linkFrill My linkYellow Beak My linkEumo My linkFrizzle My linkAlumina My linkGeorge My linkFlorida Fancy http://www.efinch.co...ecies/ffzeb.htm

 

Emmy

[birdman 28]

hi syks  and welcome from another new member of this site

[syks 0]

Thanks for the welcomes im sure one of the zebs is a black cheek for sure,the other is almost pure white but with slight tints of light brown/butterscotch in places and has slight black lines coming down from its eyes.

 

The other 3 finches are african silver bills,mostly brown in colour and imo absolutly beautiful birds,have started singing too there song is much softer then the zebs but beautiful,ive only heard one of them sing properly for sure though so im geussing the other 2 may be hens.

 

I will try to take some pics soon,they are still getting along very well together although they do have the occasional quarrel but nothing serious that would cause consern,sometimes a zeb will chase one for a few seconds and not want them too close but then it will stop and happily sit snuggled on the same pearch lol

 

When they sleep they mostly stick to there own though,the 2 zebs snuggled together and the 3 silver bills,im sure the only reason i havnt had any problems to be conserned about is because i have not put in a nesting box,if i did then i dont think it would be the same happy story

 

My posts have to be passed by a mod at the moment so takes a few days to show up(i geuss this one will be the same)

 

Thanks again for the warm welcome

 

Luke

[syks 0]

This is an african silver bill,you can tell its african and not indian as it dosnt have a white flash at the base of its tail(the indian silver bill does have this) hope its ok to post a vid from youtube here? they have a beautiful song i think although mine does sound quite a bit different to this perticuler one

 

[dannyboy2012 63]

Hello luke and welcome to the forum, I hope you enjoy your stay here.

Dan