Saw a very unusual bird in the park today!

[Pigeonwings]

Oh wow, you guys are good! Just done a bit of Googling for the birds you suggested and it was definitely a Zebra Finch!

I hope it survives the cold...

[Anders152]

Yay! Will most likely become sparrowhawk lunch But at least it got to be free for a while

[htcdude]

Originally Posted by Anders152

Yay! Will most likely become sparrowhawk lunch But at least it got to be free for a while

And it keeps the Sprawk going

[Anders152]

Sure does, though can't imagine there would be much meat on it!

[~T~]

I've heard zebra finches are quite well equipped to survive feral for a while. I'm sure it would have better chances than say a bright budgie or canary, especially if it sticks with the sparras.

[fluff11]

Sound exactly like a Zebra finch. Oh and not all males have bright chestnut coloured cheeks as it depends on the mutation.

Most likely wont survive long in the wild in the UK as there is no regular food source available for it. They usually feed on very small seeds such as panicum millet, red millet etc. Temperature shouldnt worry it though as they are tough little beggars and will survive in outside aviaries all winter in the UK without any issues usually.

Any hawk would do well to catch one of these as they are fast little birds and usually quite alert unlike a dopey canary that would just sit there till the hawk took it!

[~T~]

Originally Posted by fluff11

Sound exactly like a Zebra finch. Oh and not all males have bright chestnut coloured cheeks as it depends on the mutation.

Most likely wont survive long in the wild in the UK as there is no regular food source available for it. They usually feed on very small seeds such as panicum millet, red millet etc. Temperature shouldnt worry it though as they are tough little beggars and will survive in outside aviaries all winter in the UK without any issues usually.

Any hawk would do well to catch one of these as they are fast little birds and usually quite alert unlike a dopey canary that would just sit there till the hawk took it!

A lot of seed mixes these days contain millet so you never know.

[Billabong Karen]

Next thing you know zebra finches could be our next 'new' UK species...

[fluff11]

Originally Posted by ~T~

A lot of seed mixes these days contain millet so you never know.

Not Panicum Millet though and thats usually their staple diet, some wild bird mixes carry a little Pearl White or Red Millet amongst the other grains etc.

But you never know, Zebras are tough uns and breed like there is no tommorow!

I sold 2 pairs to a customer of mine (a few years ago now) and after eighteen months he brought me back the 2 Adult pairs plus their offspring totalling 70 birds in all!

They would be a bigger pest here than the Red Billed Weavers in Africa if they ever got hold here! But that really is not at all likely as they have been bred in captivity here now for years and are considered domesticated yet no records of them surviving for long outside of an aviary in the UK have occured.