| Title: | Captive Breeding for Conservation--and FUN! |
| Notice: | INTROS 6.X / FOR SALE 13.X / Buying a Bird 900.* |
| Moderator: | VIDEO::PULSIFER |
| Created: | Mon Oct 10 1988 |
| Last Modified: | Tue Jun 03 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 942 |
| Total number of notes: | 6016 |
I have a pair of finch - don't know what kind they are-
grey with a red rump and bright red thru their eyes like a red mask.
Anyway, I have had them for 5-1/2 years now and am curious as to
the life span of a finch. I also have 6 cats who run in and out
of the room where I keep the finch and had not had any trouble.
I am quite fond of these birds; am glad to have had them so long;
and hope to have have them a while longer.
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 206.1 | Perhaps you have a ..... | CHEFS::DEAL | Wed Jun 28 1989 08:31 | 23 | |
From your very brief description, I wonder if you don't have Red-Headed
Finches (Amadina erythrocephala). According to P.M. Soderberg (1956)
"Foreign Birds for Cage and Aviary" this is described as a South
African bird sometimes called the Rice Bird. It is similar to the
Cutthroat but very much less common.
The colour is described as bright red-brown but my description talks
about spotting and barring which you didn't mention. Unfortunately,
the colour of the beak is not mentioned.
It is possible that you have a red-billed firefinch (Lagonosticta
senegala) which is also African. This one seems more red than gray.
Under suitable conditions, finches can be very long lived -- up
to twenty years. This means live food as well as seed and fresh
greens. We also keep four footed animals around our birds and nobody
seems to mind the traffic.
We keep red-ears but I don't think their pink underpants matches
your red rump description. If you'd care to give more detail, I;ll
continue to look through my books.
Bye for now!
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| 206.2 | Thank you | STOR06::DALEY | Fri Jul 21 1989 19:57 | 9 | |
I don't get into the files as frequently as I would like so I am late
in replying. I want to thank you for your reply - which was VERY
informative. I am not sure if I have the variety of finch you
described but intend to get a finch specific book and investigate.
Thanks again for answering my question about life span. I never
realized they could live for so long.
Pat D.
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