question about finches and some pics.

[liv4pete]

I have a male zebra finch. they are easy to tell apart from the females because they are brighter colored. I went to get him a friend and they didnt have any male zebras but the sign said they could live with society finches. well i guess they cant tell female from male societys because they are colored the same and apparetnly the people at the petstore didnt know how to sex. i cant find a whole lot of useful info, so i was wondering if any of you know of a good site on this. I am afraid that i may have a female. the guy at the store didnt know if a zebra would mate with a society. but i have also heard that even if they do lay eggs they very rarely hatch so i wanted to get thoughts on that as well. here are some pics of them.
Their names are Zeke(the brightly colored zebra) and Ziggy(the brown and white society)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/liv4pete/zekeandziggy2.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/liv4pete/zekeandziggy3.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/liv4pete/zekeandziggy.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/liv4pete/zeke.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/liv4pete/zeke2.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/liv4pete/ziggy.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/liv4pete/ziggy2.jpg

[HandcuffedAngel]

Here is what I have found.

>>Zebra Finches

* Is usually easy with Adult Birds.

Male Zebra Finch
* The male will have a deeper red/orange colored beak and have bright orange cheek patches (see photo right). The male will also have brown feathers with white spots on his flanks, just under the wings. And he'll have black bars across his chest.

Female Zebra Finch
* The Female will have a lighter color beak (see photo right), no orange cheeks, no flank markings, and no chest bars.

* There are some zebra color mutations that this sexing method doesn't work for. If you are considering a zebra mutation, talk to the breeder for sexing information.

* Society Finches
o Society Finches can not be sexed visually. The males sing, the females do not. <<

I got my information from: http://www.finchniche.com/f-breeding.mgi.

I hope this helps. :)

[HandcuffedAngel]

And here are the photos that were referenced.

Male Zebra Finch:

http://www.finchniche.com/f-breeding1.jpg

Female Zebra Finch:

http://www.finchniche.com/f-breeding2.jpg

[HandcuffedAngel]

I guess the trick is to figure out if your brown and white one sings.

[liv4pete]

she chirps like a cricket. lol. but zeke does most of the singing. she chirps more than actual singing. at first she was so quiet that i was sure it was a female but now i am still a little lost,lol. i know zeke is male, he is very brightly colored and sings up a storm,lol

[lasergrl]

dont worry if its a male or female, they cant produce offspring. It will sit in a nest wether it is a male or female, but may lay infertile eggs. They should at least keep each other company.

[liv4pete]

dont worry if its a male or female, they cant produce offspring. It will sit in a nest wether it is a male or female, but may lay infertile eggs. They should at least keep each other company.


great. thank you so much! :)