parrots world

Zebra Finch Terms Fledge A chick first leaving the nest.  A fledgeling is a chick newly out of the nest. Flight A very large cage where the birds can fly freely.  Usually many feet long and high. Split Having the genes of more than one color mutation Mutation A trait that is not on the normal wild bird. This is a random occurring event.  In captive breeding we can continue this rare event with selective breeding. The different colors on Zebra finches are mutations. Selective Breeding Manually picking the specific birds to pair up for mating.  Usually done to continue a color mutation or to combine two color mutations. Inbreeding Mating family members.  Mating brother and sister is generally not a good thing.  Weak and/or deformed young may be produced.  Prolonged inbreeding will eventually return very poor results in the offspring.  Examples: Father x Daughter, Son x Mother, Brother x Sister.  From Webster's Dictiona...

Basic Colors The normal male bird has a gray upper body and wings.  The belly is white.  The beak and legs are a red-orange color.  On each side of the head is a cheek patch.  There is a 'tear drop' mark under the eye.  This is a brown/tan/fawn color commonly called orange.  The flanks/sides of the bird just below the wings, is a chestnut (orange) colored area with white dots.  The chest is black and white stripped like a zebra, hence the name zebra finch.  A truly beautiful bird! The female also has a gray upper body and wings with a white belly.  The beak and legs are the same red-orange color but not as deep color, lighter.  She has a black 'tear drop' mark under the eye.  The most noticable differences between males and females are the cheek patches and the chest striping. There are many color variations.  Most of the color variations are simply a change in color of one or more of the part...