The Zebra Finch comes from Australia and is a member of the Estrildidae family of Mannikins, otherwise known as Grass Finches. Its scientific name is Taeniopygia guttata castanotis. (Yes, I had to look that up, and don't ask me to pronounce it either!) There is another race that inhabits the Lesser Sunda Islands north of Australia and is called Taeniopygia guttata guttata or Timor Zebra Finch. Both races look the same with the exception of size. Like the Gray Parrot - the Timor is smaller!

Enough technical talk. If you like to watch fish swim around in an aquarium, then you will love watching Zebra Finches fly around in an aviary! Just like an aquarium, the more "decoration" you add, the more interesting it will be! Zebra Finches can also be housed in cages, but make sure it is a cage that allows for flight. A Zebra's cage should be at least 2 feet tall and 2 feet wide. The small cages that the pet shops sell are completely unsatisfactory for a bird that needs to fly. Unlike parrots, finches cannot "climb" because they lack the "third foot" hooked bill, so clipping their wings is totally out of the question. If you did, you would have a sad excuse for a bird that would hopelessly hop around the floor of its cage not able to go anywhere. Place natural perches as far apart as you can so that the birds can fly back and forth. Not only does it look better but the finches will also receive the proper amount of exercise. Place nesting baskets in the cage as well (all at the same level or else war will break out for the highest nest) because Zebra Finches are nest sleepers and do not enjoy sleeping standing up on their perches. Depending on how many birds you intend to keep and how big your cage is, more than one food dish is a good idea; also, Zebra Finches love to take baths, so a shallow, but fairly wide, "swimming pool" is also necessary. Other "decorations" include live potted plants, dried grasses, ground cover, hanging bird feeders, and "nesting material" sites. The more "difficult" the cage is inside, the more interesting Zebra Finches are to watch.

You should never have just one Zebra Finch. They will never bond to you and can die of loneliness if kept by itself for too long. The whole reason for keeping these birds is to watch them interact with each other and their environment (remember the aquarium!). You may keep any number or combination of the sexes together (although there should always be more females then males in any particular enclosure to prevent war again) as long as your cage or aviary is big enough. I like to use the rule, 1 finch for every 2 square feet. This way I prevent cage overcrowding. It is important to let these birds have their space, otherwise they will beat up on each other and you could wind up with a cage full of birds with no tails.

Why go through all this trouble for tiny birds that don't talk to you or interact with you? Well, for one thing, they are really easy to keep. Beginners can have excellent results with Zebra Finches because they demand so little time and effort on their caretakers part. They eat just about anything, so feeding them is never a problem. Husbandry techniques only require that you change the pan/paper every-so-often and finch poop cleans up easily with only a spray of hot water. In return for your efforts, the Zebra Finches will perform an aerial ballet and produce a whimsical musical score that sounds like "happy traffic." You don't have to worry about complaints from your neighbors because they never are offensively loud. They will spend their time feeding together, flying from perch to perch, bathing and preening, cuddling with each other, and calling to each other. If you sit far enough away, you might even get to see a male Zebra Finch dance for his mate with a feather in his beak, enticing her to mate

When Zebra Finches produce offspring, they rarely ever need any help from you! They build their own nest, feed their own chicks, and all you have to do is make sure you do not disturb them (and bring them their food). You can still watch the cage like you normally do, but don't try to peer in the nests looking for baby birds. The next day you might find them on the floor. Also, two Zebra Finches can turn into ten Zebra Finches really fast, so be prepared and responsible for your babies by removing them from the cage or aviary after they have been weaned. A pair can nest several times in quick succession, and you might wind up with more birds than you bargained for. Separation of the pairs might become necessary.

If the normal or wild Zebra Finch color is unattractive to you, never fear, color mutations are here! Just like cockatiels folks, there are pieds, whites, fawns, cinnamon and silvers plus more advanced color and marking mutations like, penguin, black breasted, yellow billed, ticked, and the fairly recent Florida fancy. They sell posters showing most of the mutations so you won't be confused trying to select a bird that is attractive to you. Believe me, if you don't like any of the colors now, just wait a few years, I'm sure someone will develop a color mutation that suits your taste (I'm expecting to see polka dots really soon!).

So you see, a bird doesn't have to scream, throw things on the floor, bite you hard enough to draw blood, chew up your furniture, have poop the size of a ping-pong ball or need your constant attention to be entertaining. The tranquillity that watching the Zebra Finch brings is always a welcome encounter at the end of a busy day.

For further information on the Zebra Finch I strongly suggest the book Zebra Finches - A Complete Pet Owner's Manual by Hans-Jurgen Martin, published by Barron's Publishing Co. ISBN 0-8120-3497-X. Also, you can find plenty of information about all types of finches in our club's library or by asking any one of our members who raise finches.