In the Mood For Something Comic?

How about a cup full of Society Finches?



I took this picture at night when the entire herd was piled up in one of the feed cups. This is how they go to sleep at night and I thought you guys just had to see this as well. They are really too silly! There are three feed cups in the cage but they all prefer to pile into one. I startled they guy in the middle and you can see he is spreading his wings and trying to regain his balance - all whilst stepping all over two of his siblings. If you look closely you can see them all - all sixteen of them!

But now you know how I ended up with sixteen of them. They are just too pathetic all crammed into a seed cup every night and so I broke down and gave them a nest box. Let this be a lesson to you! If you give four Society Finches a nest box you will end up with twelve more in short order. :)

Unlike Society Finches, Gouldians are content to perch at night. They tuck their little heads down and fluff up their feathers and they are off to dreamland.

Hege wanted to know why the birds get oyster grit. Well, it serves a couple of functions really. It keeps their beaks trim by giving them something rough to chew on. It's also a great source of calcium which they need for producing strong eggshells. It also aids in the break up of the seed they eat.

I try to give the birds a wide variety of foods to come as close as I can to what they could get for themselves in nature. In the wild state they could fly all over the place and get all sorts of minerals and such. So feeding birds just on seed is a very poor diet for them. Mine get seed plus a softer mixture called egg food. They also get greens and charcoal (which they love!). I supplement everything with various minerals and vitamins as well. They also have smooth and rough perches for healthy feet and a cuttle bone to help keep their beaks in shape.

Now you can see why this takes a bit of work! But just look at that picture to know why I bother. What a bunch of clowns!

You can click on the picture to see it larger.