Monday, February 27, 2012

Varieties And Species Of Finches

There are many varieties and species of finches in many countries of the world. The Zebra Finches, Gouldian Finches and Spice Finches are the main types of finches which can be great pets. Let us discuss how finches as pets is an exciting concept.
 
Finches are birds which are believed to be found mostly in the Southern Hemisphere and are known to be song singing birds who eat seeds. The finches belong to the family of Fringillidae-a name which has been derived from the Latin word-fringilla. Generally, one can find finches in the areas which are well-wooded. However, many finches have been found in some remote mountains and desert like regions. The lifespan of a finch can be anything between five and fifteen years.

Zebra Finches

The  Zebra Finches are very beautiful, cute and a delight to watch. These finches need a bigger cage to live well even though they are small because, they need to be comfortable flying in a horizontal direction. It will be good if you can have a thirty inch long and twenty inch high cage for the Zebra Finches. These birds are very social and they love to interact and be in company of other finches. So, when you consider having Zebra Finches as pets, you should ideally have a pair or a small group of the finches. Your Zebra Finch, which gets along well with the other birds may not get along well with you - at least during the first stages. You should make sure that the cage in which the finches are kept, is not cluttered and causing problems for the finches to fly to-and-fro supplying kinds of perches. Swings, ladders, toys and bells can also be included for the complete entertainment of the Zebra Finches. The cage place should be such that the place where it is should be quiet and peaceful, and away from air conditioning ducts and sunrays. This will satisfy your Zebra Finches to a great extent.

Gouldian Finches

The Gouldian Finches are very popular in countries like United States, United Kingdom, Holland, South Africa, etc. However, Australia is the country where this finch was breaded first. The characteristic feature of these finches is that they need warm and dry conditions to live well, as cold conditions and places which have damp weather do not suit them.

This kind of finches can be kept in a cage, having a size of a room which is most probably inside the home. If at all it is kept outside the home, make sure that it is far away from sunrays and bad weather. The cage length should be at least twenty inches for having Gouldian finches. The diet for these finches should not be an only seeds diet, as this will not give them all the essential nutrients. These finches love fresh fruits, vegetables, live insects, spinach and romaine. As said for Zebra Finches, these finches too need clean and pure drinking water.

Spice Finches

The Spice Finches need the same kind of care and nutrition which the Zebra Finches and Gouldian Finches need. The size of these finches is around twelve centimeters, and they are found in countries like India, South Asian countries and in Malaysia. Nutmeg Mannikins is the other name given to Spice Finches. Having Spice Finches as pets is a cool idea, because of their personality traits - they are playful and very exciting birds. Care should be taken while trimming the Spice Finches because if you clip into their vein by mistake, it can cause a lot of bleeding.

While owning finch as pets, you have to be fully ready to give them good living conditions and food. The water which you give your finches should be clean and pure to drink. The food dishes in which food is served should be cleaned daily and attached to the cage, so that the finches can easily have their food. Provide water in a shallow dish which is clean to the finches for bathing. Feeding good quality seeds, dandelion greens, spinach, lettuce along with millet sprays, fresh vegetables and fruits is very essential for good health and well-being of the finches.

Serving pellets which are very high in nutrition, and foods from eggs, after studying the various recipes available, is the right way of keeping finches. Make sure that there is calcium containing foods in the diets of these finches.

I hope you must have liked this article about finches as pets. So, when are you getting a finch for yourself!

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