The chicks are completely naked when born and are in the nest for around 21-25 days. They lay between two and eight eggs that are incubated for around 13 days. In cages, they will use wicker nests or proper finch boxes and add nesting material such as coconut fibre, jute and sisal. White rumped mannikin – see the similarity?īengalese are also prized as foster parents and most people breeding some of the trickier finch species keep a reliable pair or three for emergencies of this nature.īengalese like to build their own nests and mine have used fake trees, spots behind nest boxes and even tops of cages to build. My experience is that if these birds have their own mates, they show little interest in the Bengalese as anything other than friendly neighbours. Crested – any colour mutation but has a crest of feathers on their heads (yes, wacky looking!)ĭue to their heritage, Bengalese can hybridise with any of the Lonchura species including the mannikins (or Munias or Nuns depending on how you know them) and the silverbills.Black eyed white – white with black eyes.Cremino – pale creamy white, sometimes with red eyes but usually with black.Grey – varieties of grey and grey-beige shades.Chestnut – dark brown, more the colour of chocolate!.Chocolate – darkest brown, sometimes known as Brown Black.A few of the most common mutations include: While none of the colours of the Bengalese are as starting as say a Blue capped Waxbill or the Gouldians, there are plenty of different colours and all of them are attractive. They also like grit to help with digestion and a calcium boost for hens, while some with doubtless enjoy iodine blocks or cuttlefish also. Not all birds eat everything but a little monitoring will let you pick out what they ignore.īengalese love to bathe and should always have fresh bathing water as well as drinking water. Mine will try most anything I put out, perhaps because Spike and Cocoa were so trusting of me so will eat spinach, kale, lettuce, cabbage, grated carrot, berries, apple and almost anything else. Their basic diet is that of a good foreign finch seed mixture with the addition of egg food, access to grit and a supply of fresh food. Chestnut at the front with a dilute grey behind They will happily preen other species of birds and share food and water bowls without complaint. They will often sing forcefully at new arrivals and dominant males will mount them to establish their prominence but this is as aggressive as it gets. They will live in breeding cages, indoor aviaries and large flights equally happily and don’t bicker with other birds. Keeping the Bengaleseīengalese are, in my opinion, one of the easiest and most adaptable finches to keep. This means that like the domestic canary, these birds never lived in the wild anywhere and perhaps this has given them their extra friendly and relaxed attitude. They are commonly believed to be an offshoot of the White rump mannikin, giving them their Latin name of Lonchura striata domestica. Some of this sociable nature may come from the fact that they are a domesticated subspecies of a wild bird. I must admit I have bred mine in a large flight without any problems but I think that is more the determination of the birds than anything. In fact, some people have found breeding them in a flight difficult for one simple reason – they love to crowd into a nest together at night and any eggs can be squashed. Many finches are social with others of their kind and will cuddle up with other kinds of birds but the Bengalese are a little friendlier and a little more social. One of the most enduring traits of the Society Finch (Bengalese is how I know them and will refer to them from now on) is how friendly they are with other birds. These two started my love of the species and the many more I have had over the years have continued it. While not tame, they were extremely confident around me, eating from my hand and landing on my shoulder, often to sing at other birds. The result was two lovely little chocolate cock birds who I named Cocoa and Spike (Spike has two white marks above his beak while Cocoa doesn’t). This was when I had a few pairs of finches in the house and they were happy enough to breed. The first finches I ever bred were a pair of Bengalese finches, correctly known as Society Finches.
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