Anyone with "Green Singers"?

[Blueszz]

I'm curious if somebody here owns a Green Singer aka Yellow Fronted Canary. I'm referring to the Serinus Mozambicus.

I own a male and enjoy him singing so much!


Here an example of the song of these birds:

I don't think there is a whole lot of info out there about these birds in captivity. Sources agree about how to take care of them but the content about their care is limited IMHO.

I would love to hear from others how you take care of them and if you house a breeding pair all year round together or separate hen an cock for several months. I'm considering getting a female too or a different species male only as company, Honestly, I'm not into breeding so getting another species might be the best route to go.

So anyone owning one or several Green Singers, anyone knowing their needs or having advise to share with me, please chime in

 

[expressmailtome]

Bump.

 

[Blueszz]

Apparently no one with a green singer.

I'll write down some info about the care I give mine.

He lives alone in a Montana Paradiso 90 (90 cm/3 ft wide). In contrary to my canaries he doesn't use the lower part of the cage, which tells me a cage with less internal height would be better for him. But I choose this cage because it has smaller doors than the flight cages I've seen here.
Some times he is easily startled and I want to avoid he escapes when I give him new food and water. Especially before I need to leave for work. I don't want to have to chase and catch him. That only will make things worse.
That having said, he is improving a lot, when I need to be in the cage with my hands he isn't as skittish anymore as he used to be.

I feed him a seed mix for tropical finches, along with bits of canary seed mix and some seeds from weed. At first he didn't seem te recognize vegetables as food but he eats his veggies now, eagerly. The only thing I can't get him to eat is food with animal based proteins, which he needs. It's part of their natural diet.
He ignores things like egg food (store bought and home made) entirely. Now I mix bits in with his seed mix and hopefully one day he realizes it's edible too

I'm going to pick up a food, kind of "pâté" with dried insects mixed in. Have to give this a try. Maybe that is what he is used to?

I don't know anything about his past, maybe he lived in an aviary, maybe in a breeding cage/box. He doesn't have a foot ring, it's not mandatory here as they are not endemic (somewhere in Europe). They originate from Africa.
He must be around 6-8 months old as he just finished molting. He changed his juvenile feather pattern for the pattern of an adult male.
Females and youngster are a duller yellow and wear a 'necklace' with darker spots, than the males. That is how you can tell the adult males from females and youngsters.

 

[longyearwinds]

i dont own any, but where i am they are an extrmely popular bird to ‘mule’ with canaries and i deal with them frequently (looking at some right now !!) they definitely like a higher protein diet due to being an african bird, so incorporating mealworms (freeze dried if you like) would be a nice treat for them. yes, ive also always found them to be a very nervous and flighty bird. they are not typically aggressive and can be comingled. ours live next to some gray singers. the cede patee and bug mixes seem a big hit with the birds. ive found these birds do well high up if you dont want them hands on, but i actually think desensitizing these birds with your presence is actually a healthy and good thing for them when living in your home to leep their future stress levels down. im working on some owl finches and star finches at the moment. owls are certainly more skittish than stars though !

 

[Blueszz]

Thank you for your help!

It

they definitely like a higher protein diet due to being an african bird, so incorporating mealworms (freeze dried if you like)

I've never seen them dried here and live um... not so LOL

ive also always found them to be a very nervous and flighty bird

He is doing a lot better lately. I change water twice daily (or more often when it's hot) and food once a day. I have to be in the cage with my hand and part of my arm to change food and water. But the cage is large enough for him to avoid me. I think that helps a lot, he isn't forced into something that is too scary for him.
Also, when I'm sitting near the cage he is singing his little heart out. That changes though when I have visitors sitting next to him. Apparently he is getting to know me.

the cede patee and bug mixes seem a big hit with the birds

That's the one I was looking for. Sold out locally, I had to order it online. He really seems to like it.

but i actually think desensitizing these birds with your presence is actually a healthy and good thing for them when living in your home

I agree!
The cage is pretty tall and when standing next to it he is a bit above eye level which helps a lot i my opinion.
Friends always wonder about that huge cage for a little bird. I think wider would be even better for him. He is a a corner of the room with barely traffic. For such an active bird the cage can't be large/wide enough.

This week I was on the phone, sitting next to him, while he was singing. I asked the lady if the bird didn't bother her as he was quite loud then. She said it sounded like an aviary and didn't realize it wasn't one bird only ;-)
It didn't hinder though.

Love this little guy.

 

[longyearwinds]

Freeze drying is a process of instantly drying out the bugs so they retain their nutritional value. They are definitely not live, but I know some people don’t like to deal with live bugs due to either not liking bugs, or having to regularly worm their birds for parasites that live bugs can carry. A dry mix should be just fine for your purposes.

I too have been making some headway with my owls and stars. Its extremely uplifting to see them singing nearby without fear of me. Im lucky with my bird care in that I work at a local shop that mostly deals in softbills, so I usually have access to alot of these items. But with the way shipping is, its been hard even getting it at the store lately !

I plan to try and get my finches onto some lafeber pellets. I typically dont do pellets solely, but in addition to seeds and other aspects of their diets. My gouldians love the lafeber pellets so im hoping the owls and stars will pick it up from them lol. Not sure if you do a regular vitamin with yours or not, but mine are on Rob Marshalls Ioford and Dufo Vitamin mix once a week in addition to their current seed diet.

 

[Blueszz]

They are definitely not live, but I know some people don’t like to deal with live bugs due to either not liking bugs, or having to regularly worm their birds for parasites that live bugs can carry. A dry mix should be just fine for your purposes.

I even didn't think of parasites that freeze dried bugs can carry. I didn't know that!

I had them in my shopping cart, looked again at them and put them back on the shelve. I got shivers down my spine solely by looking at them.

I plan to try and get my finches onto some lafeber pellets. I typically dont do pellets solely, but in addition to seeds and other aspects of their diets

I tried pellets with my birds in the past, several brands. I didn't have luck with them. I bought Harrisons High Potency Super Fine recently and mix that with seed. Hoping that he will get a taste for it that way.

My gouldians love the lafeber pellets so im hoping the owls and stars will pick it up from them lol.

Monkey see, monkey do... ;-) It might work.

Not sure if you do a regular vitamin with yours or not, but mine are on Rob Marshalls Ioford and Dufo Vitamin mix once a week in addition to their current seed diet.

Yes, I give him Oropharma Omni-vit (click). Especially because he isn't on pellets (yet). The brands you mention aren't available here ;-)
From the same brand he gets a water soluble calcium source. On the same day as his vitamin supplement because of the vit. D in that suppl.
Besides that I have a UV light above part of the cage.

 

[longyearwinds]

Sorry, I meant only live mealworms can carry parasites ! Freeze dried wouldn't contain anything living, including parasites. But it sounds like you've got them on a good insect mix anyways, so It's probably not necessary !

We have that versele -laga here as well ! Both the Rob Marshall & the Versele-Laga are imports here into the US and I'm lucky that there's a bird community locally and a great Gouldian resource online to get them, otherwise we really don't have as high quality formulas I feel. I felt like I kept buying different multivitamins to try, not sure what contained what from where before I finally just looked up a pre-existing chart on vitamins and decided to simplify my life by doing that instead it's mainly for the Gouldians, but I just do the same mixtures for my canaries and other finches to streamline things. It seems a lot of the products out of Australia are gold just due to the amount of Australian finches there are.

Do you keep any other finches or is he your first guy ? I also tried I think roudybush in the past, but I didn't realize at the time how lucky I got that the gouldians even ate the lafebers– they are the worlds pickiest eaters !!!

 

[Blueszz]

Sorry, I meant only live mealworms can carry parasites ! Freeze dried wouldn't contain anything living, including parasites. But it sounds like you've got them on a good insect mix anyways, so It's probably not necessary !

Maybe I can get myself feeding freeze dried mealworms. They are pretty large compared to a green singer, do you crush them?

Do you keep any other finches or is he your first guy ? I also tried I think roudybush in the past, but I didn't realize at the time how lucky I got that the gouldians even ate the lafebers– they are the worlds pickiest eaters !!!

He is my first finch, I have canaries though.

 

[Blueszz]

I have another question.
How often and how much should I feed the CeDe universal pâté?

I notice lately he is preferring this over tropical seed mix and I guess I have to limit how much he can eat from the CeDe.

 

[Flutterby1]

Hi I've just been reading all the comments on here and as I'm new to the bird world I was wondering if someone would help me please I recently bought a zebra mule which I believe to be a canary×finch do I need to change the diet I feed him canary seed mix with oyster and egg shell fresh fruit and veg he has a cuttlefish also a calcium block and some millet is this sort of diet sufficient for him or does he need something else aswell ? He is going through his moult at the minute I believe and has stopped responding with his chirps and tweets I have only had him around 3 weeks and he hasn't sung once in that time which I put down to the upheaval of new home and getting used to things, so does he need a companion or is he perfectly happy on his own he is in a large cage and I do have a even larger 1, he is a real character and such a sweet boy if he is indeed a boy the lady at the pet shop said he was singing all day but as I said he's not once sung for us so just wondering if someone could help me and give me some pointers and if I'm feeding him the right diet and if he does need company what would be best for him as I would like a full canary that actually sings thanks in advance and I look forward to learning more about my little man
Best wishes
Sandy

 

[Blueszz]

Hi Sandy

I recently bought a zebra mule which I believe to be a canary×finch

To my best knowledge Zebra finches don't cross with canaries.

He is going through his moult at the minute I believe and has stopped responding with his chirps and tweets

That will be because he is molting. Which isn't weird after finding a new home as living conditions like day light hours and temperature can be completely different.

I have only had him around 3 weeks and he hasn't sung once in that time which I put down to the upheaval of new home and getting used to things,

Exactly but also during molt they don't sing.

so does he need a companion or is he perfectly happy on his own he is in a large cage

It all depends on what species or mix he is.

I do have a even larger 1

A cage can't be large enough so I would say, go ahead and give him that larger cage.

but as I said he's not once sung for us so just wondering if someone could help me

Patience is the key here.

some pointers and if I'm feeding him the right diet

We can't tell as long as we don't know what species (mix) he is. Can you show us a picture? Didn't the seller know what he is bred from?

and if he does need company what would be best for him as I would like a full canary that actually sings

Don't get another bird right now. It's possible that if you get another male they'll fight each other. Depending on species also females can fight until one dies.

So I guess for you it's important right now to determine what species (mix) he is, from there we can hopefully give you some more answers on your questions.

 

[fluff86]

Before I learned about canaries I did not know that canaries sing like this and I thought it was only wild birds that could sing like this. I used to play bird song for a long time from MP3 but now I can have the real thing in my home. Its very relaxing. I'm going to be picking up a male green canary along with an orange and yellow so 3 in total. I will have two males and one female and I plan on breeding them.

 

[Moosiani]

I'm curious if somebody here owns a Green Singer aka Yellow Fronted Canary. I'm referring to the Serinus Mozambicus.

I own a male and enjoy him singing so much!


Here an example of the song of these birds:

I don't think there is a whole lot of info out there about these birds in captivity. Sources agree about how to take care of them but the content about their care is limited IMHO.

I would love to hear from others how you take care of them and if you house a breeding pair all year round together or separate hen an cock for several months. I'm considering getting a female too or a different species male only as company, Honestly, I'm not into breeding so getting another species might be the best route to go.

So anyone owning one or several Green Singers, anyone knowing their needs or having advise to share with me, please chime in

I have a green male. Sings like a master. His mate is yellow and black with two black eyes. 3 just layer her 3 egg this morning. Ive had them for 3 week now and they get along very well.

 

[eddiemosh]

Yes I have quite a few

I'm curious if somebody here owns a Green Singer aka Yellow Fronted Canary. I'm referring to the Serinus Mozambicus.

I own a male and enjoy him singing so much!


Here an example of the song of these birds:

I don't think there is a whole lot of info out there about these birds in captivity. Sources agree about how to take care of them but the content about their care is limited IMHO.

I would love to hear from others how you take care of them and if you house a breeding pair all year round together or separate hen an cock for several months. I'm considering getting a female too or a different species male only as company, Honestly, I'm not into breeding so getting another species might be the best route to go.

So anyone owning one or several Green Singers, anyone knowing their needs or having advise to share with me, please chime

 

[eddiemosh]

I'm curious if somebody here owns a Green Singer aka Yellow Fronted Canary. I'm referring to the Serinus Mozambicus.

I own a male and enjoy him singing so much!


Here an example of the song of these birds:

I don't think there is a whole lot of info out there about these birds in captivity. Sources agree about how to take care of them but the content about their care is limited IMHO.

I would love to hear from others how you take care of them and if you house a breeding pair all year round together or separate hen an cock for several months. I'm considering getting a female too or a different species male only as company, Honestly, I'm not into breeding so getting another species might be the best route to go.

So anyone owning one or several Green Singers, anyone knowing their needs or having advise to share with me, please chime in

I have quite a few green singing finches presently 13 and 3 grey singing finches ( cousins) as I call them. They can be very feisty birds especially once they know their space, cage wise it is better you house it in more like a flight cage or rectangle than a high cage type. Also you could color feed it with fresh red pepper during its next molt and it will become orange depending on how much pepper it ingest the, the more pepper it consumes, deeper the orange. The males sing as a territorial warning and also as a mating call. In time to come if you whistle when you approach his cage/space it helps letting the little fellow know you are approaching,this aids not to scare it also after some time it will start singing as you whistle and approach or even while you change out its food etc ... I have had them off and on! When you have more than one male at home then you will know their true worth however, you don't let them see each other for better singing results just let them hear one another...I could go on forever, one of my favourite finches without a doubt!!...

 

[eddiemosh]

This is a green singing Finch that was color fed with fresh red peppers and also cayenne dried powder pepper during its molting stage...