Greetings and looking for advice

[jess_hawk]

Hello, My name is Emily and I am a college student in eastern Iowa. I would like to aquire between six and ten birds for a study on bird vocalizations. I assure you that nothing will be required of the birds except that they make noise; they will be well cared for by myself, my advisor, and/or one or two other specially selected individuals. Following the study, they will be going home either with one of their caretakers or with another qualified individual.

My two main choices as of this moment are either finches (society finches or spice finches) or parakeets. The advantages of finches are that they are not mimics, so I will not have to worry about a bird being affected by my own vocalizations. The advantages of parakeets are that they are supposed to be handled regularly, so handling them (which will have to be done daily) would not cause as much stress. What would you recommend of these two; or would you recommend a different type of bird?

I am working on a budget, so the cheaper I can get birds, the better. On the other hand, I am willing and able to spend the money to get healthy, well-cared-for, socialized birds (or young birds that I can socialize and condition to my own needs for this study). I would prefer to not buy birds from a pet store chain, but I am having a hard time locating breeders in my area. I do not want to have to ship the birds. Does anyone know of parakeet or finch breeders in my area?

[Monica]

Any bird, when parent raised, will not enjoy being handled.... that includes budgerigars (a.k.a. "parakeets"). The younger the bird (even in finches) the more likely it is you'll be able to tame them quickly, of course it depends on the individual birds themselves.

Of course, with any bird you choose to study, you also must be sure they get a healthy diet that includes fresh foods (such as veggies, cooked eggs/legumes, pasta, brown rice, whole grain breads, sprouts, etc), various toys to keep them preoccupied (NO mirrors), and various types of perches to sit on (natural wooden ones, cotton rope, etc).

[jess_hawk]

Thank you for the advice!

:D My favorite part of this is having a new critter to look after. Whatever birds I end up with - they'll be spoiled rotten. Experience suggests I'll probably drive my professor nuts with all of my toys and nutritious foods for the birds. Even my fish are spoiled rotten ;) .

[Irish]

Do finches make any sound other than a soothing "beep"? LOL! Depends on what you're studying, I guess--variety of vocalizations? Loudness? Quantity?

I have no advice about which to choose. I've never personally known a friendly budgie, and I've never been owned by finches....

[svolk]

That's a tough decision as to what to choose. I agree with Monica that getting younger birds will allow for quicker taming if they have to be handled on a daily basis.

With budgies there is the possibility of mimicry if they are around other species as well - I know of people with budgies that sound like finches and Jerry does an impeccable cockatiel imitation on a daily basis. But in a group of 6 budgies you wouldn't be as likely for them to pick up human speech - they will more than likely be bonded to the other budgies than humans.

Be sure to research the appropriate cage size for a small flock and also, as Monica suggested, a good diet and lots of toys and different perch sizes.

And also think about wing clipping - since these birds will be handled on a daily basis, I would assume that wing feather trimming would be ideal - do you have a an avian vet that can show you how to do this properly?

And hey Irish - you do too know a friendly budgie He's cute, blue, his name starts with a "J" and ends with an "erry"

[svolk]

What about canaries? Not that I know anything about them, but just a thought for something else to look into.

[macattack]

hey there sounds interesting. What is the study parameters? Outcome that your looking for?

The bigger the bird the more you will get vocalizations from them. Finches tend to be chirpers, but mine have never been much of singers. Some are beautiful singers. but you pay for that privilidge. I have zebra finches. and they are quite affordable. But the more you spend on a finch the better the singer. The better the colorfulness, etc... Some finches don't sing at all. My white mutations of zebras don't... what about canaries as you move into the the bigger birds they become more domesticated.

good site to help you choose...

http://www.singing-wings-aviary.com/Canaries.htm

ringneck /red rumps/ bourkes.. only because they are more socialable. Unless you pull the finches at egg hatching than you aren't going to get a tame finch. and even then i have never been able to tame mine. The minute they go back into the group settings they are back with the flock... and its a battle to catch them if ill or i need to medicate and hence stressful...each one would have to be separated into different cages to keep them at a tame enough level for your project. doesn't seem worth all that effort. getting them at birth hand raising them, and then maybe they will stay tame in that environement..

budgies have a higher intelligence. More fun to interact with. easier to clip if you have to (bigger wings, don't clip a finch, thats just cruel).

[svolk]

It would be interesting to know more of the study parameters and what you're looking to observe.

As macattack said, budgie are VERY intelligent, and might make for an interesting project from a different angle.

And I didn't think about how small finches are in comparison to budgies, which therefore, would make wing clipping a much more difficult thing. And they are fast little buggers to have to catch if needed, I'm sure.

[macattack]

finches are catchable... but stressful. on them and me...I have to get a spray bottle out. and chase the one down i want and wet him so he can't fly. Then i can towel. Otherwise, toweling and chasing is even more of a stressful event. NOT a nice thing to do if not needed. They truly are a hands off bird. And if he is already a little on the ill side can be downright dangerous. Then you have about 20 minutes till they dry off, lose the stress factor, and then you might be able to do whatever testing you need to. but during the time it takes you to catch one, he's going to be too stressed to sing for you...

[svolk]

Good points on the overwhelming stress factor, macattack. I have never owned finches so I do not have any first hand experience as to what it entails.