Finch World

In the interest of getting these guys out here for everybody who’s interested, and because we’ve had to spend so much time with them over the past few days, I thought I’d throw out a few pictures of Finch World. Shown here, with his black-and-white self, is Flitter; to his side is Pippi. They’re probably contemplating some evil, because that’s about all Pippi seems interested in.

We can be fairly certain that their evil doesn’t involve Twitter, as he’s pretty well staying out of all of the chaos. Yes, Pip will pick on him, too, but only if Miniver has managed to elude her. Or if Pip has met with the spray bottle in conjunction with Min, and, thus, thinks that she should take it out on somebody else.

Miniver, here, is simply glad to eat. And eat and eat. We think that she’s trying to get as large as Pip, but we’re afraid that it’s a futile kind of thing. Min is a Spice Finch, you see, whereas Pip is a Zebra. Zebras are much larger than Spice Finches, and a bit larger than Society Finches, too. Thus, Min is doomed to eat and eat and never get particularly larger.

We think that Flit and Min are going to hook up, because they hang out quite a bit, and they’ve been doing the mutual grooming thing. There hasn’t been any of the shuffle / fluff / dance / squawk behavior from Flit, though, so it could be that things have just been too chaotic. Perhaps it takes a bit longer for such things. Or perhaps Pip is really just a juvenile, despite her largeness.

Min, on the other hand, is having none of it. She’s pretty solitary most of the time, bouncing from one side of the cage to the other, flinging herself about. Or she’s at the food dish. I did see her this morning having a bath with Twitter, but … well, we just can’t tell yet. If it does end up happening, they’re the best hope for further reproduction, as Spice Finches and Society Finches can breed, as can Zebras and Societies. However, there are some which are infertile coming out of these crosses, so while they may end up with children, they may not end up with grandchildren. C’est la vie.

In a rare showing of … society, Min gets between Flit and Pip. Not to worry – Min really won’t stay long, and is probably just rubbing it in that Pip is the one who gets the spray bottle. You see, Pip just can’t stand it when Min gets the top perch, or the food dish, or a bath. So, she edges up and pecks. Min takes off, and ends up stirring up everybody, and it’s all-out chaos.

You see, Pip gets the water, but Min instigates. So, taking advantage of her small size and her experience in dashing about, Min antagonizes Pip, Pip responds with bites, and then Pip gets the spray. Unfortunately, Pip takes it farther than she needs to and doesn’t know when to quit, so Min can end up going without food for quite some time, as Min chases her about, and keeps her away from the food. Oh, the psychoses of two females trying to get the attention of a couple of old bachelors.

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