Shortly after our first female owl finch died, we traded
her surviving mate for our current pair of African Silverbills. Unfortunately, the store
where we'd been doing most of our business didn't have a very good selection of birds for
trade. The silverbills were among the only birds that would likely get along harmoniously
with the aviary's current residents. So, despite the fact that they were in poor feather
condition on the backs of their necks, we took them.
Sometimes rescuing birds from a poor store environment is
more important than getting the "best" birds. Rescuing birds too often can
certainly get one into trouble. The result will often be too many birds in too small a
space. Rescuing birds also encourages poorly run pet stores to continue with their poor
birdkeeping practices which is, in the long run, worse for birds. We keep finch rescues to
a minimum.
Anyway, almost immediately after we got the pair home and
safely into the aviary, they demonstrated that they were, indeed, a male-female pair by
mating. No eggs were produced that we observed.
There was some initial friction from the white headed nun
pair and the two female spice finches toward the silverbills. They attempted to intimidate
the new birds from the best perching positions, though they did not pursue the silverbills
around the aviary. Undaunted, the silverbills stood their ground. The proceedings were
somewhat comical to watch from outside the aviary, though inside the drama was serious.
The expressions and body language of the spices and nuns were threatening and stern, while
the facial expressions of the silverbills was more like,
"Heeeey, I'm standing here.
Do you mind, fella?" There'd be a little beak to beak playoff which resulted in the
silverbill keeping his or her place on the perch and the other bird just lumping it.
The first birds to become friends with the silverbills,
inevitably, were the society finches who are friendly to almost all comers. All four birds
were soon observed snuggling together.
Overall, this pair is fairly non-aggressive and not prone
to getting into trouble. They're curious, and are well-behaved with our mix of other
finches. The only problem with these particular birds is that, even after several months
in our care, had not regrown feathers at the backs of their necks. Also, this pair
continued to express a very strong interest in breeding. Rather than frustrate them in our
non-breeding community, we eventually found a local breeder who took the pair.
