Winston & Watson

Watson Making Friends With A Giant Millet Spray

Winston Watson Update

Written by Jeffrey R Hilton

Winston and Watson are doing well. Well fed,  well groomed and well amused and playful.  A container of warm water is put into their cage now regularly,  and they almost always get in and bathe,  one at a time with Watson enjoying a higher pecking order and going first.  Sometimes they get impatient for another bath and I've seen Winston climb right into their water cage cup and proceed to bathe,  often leaving the cup near empty when finished.

The birds are provided with fresh hay every few weeks and they always go to work immediately and don't stop stuffing it into their main nest until every piece is either used or on the floor beside the cage,  perhaps rejected by quality control.  I'm surprised that the nest hasn't burst yet with half a bag of hay inside.


There's 2 new kids on the block around here that go by the name of Bandit,  and Bella. They are the latest addition to the Finch club.  Bengalese,  or Society Finches.

From left to right,  Winston,  Watson,  Bella,  Bandit

Winston and Watson didn't seem very pleased at all to have a new room mate and Watson was a bit mean and attacked bandit a few to many times.  They got along a bit better for a few days,  but since,  I've had to go out and buy another cage as the Zebra Finches are just to aggressive towards the others and won't let them settle into the cage.  they were also chasing their new room mates out of their own nest.  Problem solved.


Bandit's chirp resembles a remote for a car door.  He sings very well already for a youngster.  He can walk up and down the bars and hang on them anywhere,  including the roof.  He's even happy to sing while hanging on the side of the cage.  Society Finches are not found in the wild and were domesticated many centuries ago by mating a breed of Finch with perhaps a Mannikin ( Waxbill )(Lonchura,family )

Chestnut Breasted Manikin

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Do Have A Good Day

Jeffrey R Hilton

Winston & Watson Finch Update

From the Left Winston and Watson

Winston and Watson are well settled in now in their corner of the living room where their antics don't go unnoticed easily and they are a constant source of amusement. Winston being the first Finch purchased, is slightly older than Watson and he flies around the cage a bit and only lands on perches unless he wants something on the floor of the cage, or to land on a food or water cup.  Watson however is a different bird altogether. He's like a little Kamikaze,  he lands on perches alright but he also flies at the front of the cage and lands on the wire,  or lands on the top of the cage roof to get to the top of the millet.  Winston seemed fine with this and content to let Watson show off his acrobatics until recently.  Now he's finally copied Watson's idea and is trying to get it but instead of landing on the front of the cage wire he flies at it,  stops and hovers a second then takes off the other way. 


Like any finches,  they benefit from,  and love the deluxe seed mix,  I mix the deluxe seed into the cheaper seed,  so that it's not too rich and it goes farther.  That and along with millet sprays,  they seem to be thriving.  I'm starting to experiment with putting a few small pieces of vegetables. I've just begun with this and tried some broccoli and they didn't seem interested this time around.  It doesn't hurt to offer them bits of fruit as well now and again.  You just have to experiment until you hit on something they like.


I  had offered the birds a bath at least once a week since I got them and they showed no interest in it other than to have a drink from it. I left it in the cage for a few hours each time and then removed it.  Just yesterday a bath was offered to them again and Watson checked it out first as he is more adventurous but yet more skittish of the two.  He jumped in finally and started bathing in earnest.  Of course Winston soon got in on the action.  It was like watching two little kids at a wading pool,  thrashing around in the water and chirping up a storm and having a great time.  Watson stayed in the whole time and the longest and Winston was in twice for two short baths. Content they landed on the lower perches and I made a mental note to cover the wall behind the cage by putting a towel over the cage at the back as they shake off the excess water much like dogs do and splattered the wall with water.  I will offer them the bath once a week now and I'm sure they will use it now.


Out of the two nests on offer to them,  they prefer the covered roof one best and only use the open nest for lounging in occasionally.  When I first got these guys,  I put some hay in their nests and put some on the floor of the cage for them to add more as they pleased , but they were not interested so I added it myself.  Lately however at least once a week now I add a small pile of hay on the floor of the cage and as soon as I put it in,  they go to work taking turns adding it to the nest until it's all in there. If they drop it, they immediately go and retrieve it and try again.  Without trying to sound too boring,  this is fun to watch. they always go in turn and are like little construction workers.


Both birds have  different calls and songs if you want to call what they do songs. I went for a walk today at a reservoir to try out my new camera and ended up picking up three pieces of driftwood that I took home.  I've made one into a natural perch just like the ones they sell in pet stores with just a few small bits I had on hand,  and installed it in their cage.  They love it and it's a smaller diameter than their perches which is better for their little feet.


They have been trying to mate each other lately and as two males, I'm not sure this is a good thing.  If I put a female in there now,  she will have to be big,  bold and bossy so she can take a round out of these two if they get too frisky with her.  For now I'm not planning on getting a hen just yet,  so these two bozo's will have to learn how to cool off.


Do Have A Good Day From The Fine Folks At The Finch Funny Farm!     Jeff   

Zebra Finches Indoors Important Update !

Nothing stays the same.

Winston was getting familiar with his new surroundings and vocalizing 

more to us.He still wouldn't go into the nest provided, which was more to do with the fact that I had strips of paper lining it rather than the Timothy Hay that finer finicky Finches and Avian's everywhere prefer.

When I decided to adjust the perches, Winston took this to be a game and when ever I moved one end of the perch up to loose it from the bar, he would land on it each time. and then alight after a few chirps of "Look how clever I am ?" He repeats this trick when ever I adjust the perches.

with that in mind, I thought I would teach him a trick a past pet Cockatiel Kiki used to do for me.

I put my hand in the cage holding a Bic Pen like an outstretched perch and while Winston took flight for a few seconds in a slight panic, he settled on his perch and watched me as I coaxed him softly. Within seconds more he landed on the pen in my hand and chirped. I praised him and he repeated the trick a few more times. Pretty fabulous when you consider that this bird and I have only known each other for two days and Finches are not usually known to be tamed to any degree to my knowledge.

The way I look at it is that it's a new experience for him and stimulating.

That was early in the day. It was later things changed drastically.

Someone else in the household that has never owned any birds before had taken a real shine to Winston since his surprise arrival a few days ago.

So next thing I know I'm standing at the checkout of Pet Smart again with another Zebra Finch cock and a new and bigger cage somewhat resembling a mansion, another nest and a millet spray holder.

Did I mention that it's big enough to hold three mating pairs ?

I convinced her to get another cock because I'm not ready to be a surrogate again just yet.

So, new cage all sorted out with two finches in it, and there they sat on an upper perch in pure silence beside each other.

Winston, wondering over his new cage and his new slightly younger friend,

Watson ! 

By evening they were chirping and beeping up a storm to each other and us.

Winston tried out his old nest with the new hay installed. Watson jumps in with. Watson gets scolded out again. They have tried both nests now,together and separately, and it seems like Winston has taught Watson to ask first if it's alright to share a bunk.
Other than Watson being a bit smaller you can tell them apart because Watson has a few white dot markings on top of his head.

These guys to me, are just like little cartoon characters.

They also remind me of tiny Penguins or mini Toucans with their bright orange beaks or even clowns. Lol.

Mind going on watch for a few minutes while I grab some shut eye ?

Watson stands guard

The New Mansion

Watson cleverly displays his white head markings for you

Winston

You are finished with that flash now Dad ? Right ?


Like I said. Nothing stays the same.With that in mind, stay tuned for further updates on Winston and Watson the Zebra Finches and who knows who else might show up ?

In the mean time; Do Have A Good Day !