Finches

Finches

Finches are passerine birds of the Fringillidae family. They are beautiful, small seed-eating songbirds. Most finches are native to the Northern Hemisphere. The scientific name Fringillidae comes from the Latin word fringilla for the Chaffinch, which is commonly found in Europe.

Birds of other families are often called "finches" including some species of waxbills or estrildidae finches found in the tropics and Australia.

The classic or true finches range in size from the tiny Andean Siskin at 3.8 in to the large Collard Grosbeak which reach nearly 9 in. Finches typically have strong, stubby beaks, which can be quite large in some species. All true finches have 12 remiges and 9 primary rectrices. The basic plumage color is brownish, sometimes greenish; many have considerable amounts of black, while white plumage is generally absent except as wing-bars or other signaling marks. Bright yellow and red carotenoid pigments are common in this family. Many true finches have strong sexual dichromatish, the females usually lack the bright, vibrant markings of males.

Over the years, these active, beautiful little birds have become popular as pets. They are beautiful to look at, wonderful to listen to, easy to keep and most finches are very easy to breed. All you need to do is provide a comfortable, healthy environment and the finches will take care of the rest.

These birds come in such a huge variety of colors, patterns and personalities. The three most popular of this species that people like to have as pets are the Zebra Finch, The Gouldian Finch and the Society Finch. Finches are very social and in most cases they can be housed in cages or aviaries with other finches and soft-billed birds. Hook-billed birds are naturally aggressive so it is better not to house these birds with your finches.

Though these birds are very social, they prefer the company of other finches to humans. Some finches can be trained to sit on your shoulder or perch on your finger for a short time, but in general, finches prefer to be with other finches so it is best to enjoy the beauties from a distance.

Though finches are easy to care for, they are very, very active so they need plenty of room to move around in. It is imperative that their housing provides them with enough room to fly freely from perch to perch.

Due to their popularity as pets, Zebra, Gouldian and Society finches are readily available for purchase. Being social animals, it is important that you never buy a single bird. You will need at least two finches to make sure they don't get lonely and become ill. Preferably a male and female of the same species.