I recently evacuated with all my birds for a hurricane. When I returned, I had one flight cage with all (20+) finches in it. They had come from 5 different cages. They are all banded by color but in some cases there are 2 alike, say a black head/purple breast/green back hen with a blue band. In this case one is a lot younger than the other so generally I can tell them apart, but I thought what if I accidentally separate them from their bond-mate? Do they know better than I do how they want to 'flock?'
So I opened the flight cage they were in and all the other cages and waited approximately 29 hours.
They began flying out and assembling themselves here and there, as well as exploring the room. Almost immediately the baby finch went to a high cage and his parents joined him (he is near weaning I think). I left the room so they did not feel intimidated by me, but continued to go back and monitor the situation. I did place food and water in all cages as well as around the room just in case someone couldn't find their way.
Next day, everyone had a home cage. The ones that live in my wood/glass aviary were all there. The baby and parents were joined by 2 others. Many from the double aviary had gone home. One pair that had eggs in a small cage before evacuation separated, the hen going back to the nest/cage but the male moved to the big aviary. The hen had a new mate, plus another pair moved in with them (30X18X18 cage). I did move the baby and parents back down to a lower cage so I can keep a better eye on him.
They're all quite happy where they chose to be. I can tell which breeding family they are in by band color, so I'm able to control that - but there's no need to repair anyone; they all made good choices or paired up with a same sex friend.
The surprise was that once they chose a cage, they stayed in it even though the door was open. I may try this again sometime!
So I opened the flight cage they were in and all the other cages and waited approximately 29 hours.
They began flying out and assembling themselves here and there, as well as exploring the room. Almost immediately the baby finch went to a high cage and his parents joined him (he is near weaning I think). I left the room so they did not feel intimidated by me, but continued to go back and monitor the situation. I did place food and water in all cages as well as around the room just in case someone couldn't find their way.
Next day, everyone had a home cage. The ones that live in my wood/glass aviary were all there. The baby and parents were joined by 2 others. Many from the double aviary had gone home. One pair that had eggs in a small cage before evacuation separated, the hen going back to the nest/cage but the male moved to the big aviary. The hen had a new mate, plus another pair moved in with them (30X18X18 cage). I did move the baby and parents back down to a lower cage so I can keep a better eye on him.
They're all quite happy where they chose to be. I can tell which breeding family they are in by band color, so I'm able to control that - but there's no need to repair anyone; they all made good choices or paired up with a same sex friend.
The surprise was that once they chose a cage, they stayed in it even though the door was open. I may try this again sometime!