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My first bird! (Java Sparrow)

expressmailtome

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Also as a additional fun fact: they're an invasive species in Hawaii, and someone actually somewhat tamed a whole colony after feeding them for a few years lol
They are illegal in quite a few states in the US, and can not be sold across state lines.
 

UrbanSylvanus

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They are illegal in quite a few states in the US, and can not be sold across state lines.
I'm aware of that, and I'm sure that's one of the reasons why we don't see too many Javas on this forum, especially hand-tamed ones. Considering they've been doing a little too well in Hawaii I can imagine they would cause the same havoc in California and Florida, 2 states that don't allow Javas
 

Sparkles99

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Well, Peepers is in Ontario, as am I, most of which gets very cold. So I find it odd that I've never seen them around here.
 

Peepers

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Peepers has made lots of progress in the taming department! :xflove: She comes willingly out of her cage now (before, I would cheat and play a video of Java Sparrows singing so she would come out, lol). She is very relaxed jumping from person to person, and will hang out on my arm or shoulder for a long time. She is now okay on the backs of our hands (sometimes), but not our fingers or palms. We are taking this slowly. :)
 

Allison_B

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Peepers - love the name! We are looking to add a bird to our family and are seriously considering a java sparrow/finch. Problem is, I can't find too much info about them. I also saw them on Love of Pets, and there's a breeder near me in Calgary who regularly posts in one of our Calgary pages about her birds, but that's about it. I have three youngish children who are really excited about their first bird experience. I grew up with a larger cockatoo and lovebird. I love birds, but am looking to play it pretty safe with this first bird adventure for my family -- nothing too dusty (our cockatoo was a dust ball), too loud (again we could hear the cockatoo down the street), too nippy (my lovebird was very tame, but still nipped a lot and their beaks are sharp), or too messy (e.g. throwing seed and chop for fun, projectile poops, etc.). I'm also hoping for a bird that will happily perch on more than one family member. Would love to hear about your experience as a Java finch owner.
 

UrbanSylvanus

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Peepers - love the name! We are looking to add a bird to our family and are seriously considering a java sparrow/finch. Problem is, I can't find too much info about them. I also saw them on Love of Pets, and there's a breeder near me in Calgary who regularly posts in one of our Calgary pages about her birds, but that's about it. I have three youngish children who are really excited about their first bird experience. I grew up with a larger cockatoo and lovebird. I love birds, but am looking to play it pretty safe with this first bird adventure for my family -- nothing too dusty (our cockatoo was a dust ball), too loud (again we could hear the cockatoo down the street), too nippy (my lovebird was very tame, but still nipped a lot and their beaks are sharp), or too messy (e.g. throwing seed and chop for fun, projectile poops, etc.). I'm also hoping for a bird that will happily perch on more than one family member. Would love to hear about your experience as a Java finch owner.
Hi, I’m not the original poster of this thread but I figure you’ve seen some of my posts on here. I’ve owned my Java finch for around 2 years now, and I would love to jump in on this discussion.
In general, I would say everything you asked about I would answer with “They are [dusty, nippy, messy] but not to the degree of a parrot.” because one can make the claim that all birds are like that. But let me elaborate...

Dusty: technically Java finches aren’t dusty. But they moult just like any other bird and I found my nose getting stuffy during my finch, Oguro’s, very first moult when she was shedding all her adolescent feathers to grow in her more permanent adult ones. My nose has been fine for subsequent moults but that’s something to keep in mind.

Nippy: Javas are notorious for being rather hot tempered birds so they won’t hesitate to bite or peck if they don’t like something and they can’t fly away from it (especially when they’ve been grabbed to get their nails trimmed lol) That being said, it hurts a bit but it isn’t to the degree of what I’ve gotten from my Linnies when they have bit me.

Messy: I figure I don’t have to elaborate on poops if you’ve had birds before. Javas definitely poop more frequently than larger birds, but they’re more smaller in exchange and easy to clean up. They don’t throw around food “for fun” but they are somewhat messy eaters.

Don’t get me wrong, they are very cute companion birds though that can be very cheeky and make people laugh but also cuddle and fall asleep in your hand. Oguro likes perching on my mom as well as me so they can bond with multiple people as well. I would say that if you have youngish children that you either wait until they are older or you keep a very close eye on them when your finch is out of their cage as Javas are smaller than a lovebird (think a few cm bigger than a common house sparrow) and are therefore a lot more fragile.
 

Allison_B

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Hi, I’m not the original poster of this thread but I figure you’ve seen some of my posts on here. I’ve owned my Java finch for around 2 years now, and I would love to jump in on this discussion.
In general, I would say everything you asked about I would answer with “They are [dusty, nippy, messy] but not to the degree of a parrot.” because one can make the claim that all birds are like that. But let me elaborate...

Dusty: technically Java finches aren’t dusty. But they moult just like any other bird and I found my nose getting stuffy during my finch, Oguro’s, very first moult when she was shedding all her adolescent feathers to grow in her more permanent adult ones. My nose has been fine for subsequent moults but that’s something to keep in mind.

Nippy: Javas are notorious for being rather hot tempered birds so they won’t hesitate to bite or peck if they don’t like something and they can’t fly away from it (especially when they’ve been grabbed to get their nails trimmed lol) That being said, it hurts a bit but it isn’t to the degree of what I’ve gotten from my Linnies when they have bit me.

Messy: I figure I don’t have to elaborate on poops if you’ve had birds before. Javas definitely poop more frequently than larger birds, but they’re more smaller in exchange and easy to clean up. They don’t throw around food “for fun” but they are somewhat messy eaters.

Don’t get me wrong, they are very cute companion birds though that can be very cheeky and make people laugh but also cuddle and fall asleep in your hand. Oguro likes perching on my mom as well as me so they can bond with multiple people as well. I would say that if you have youngish children that you either wait until they are older or you keep a very close eye on them when your finch is out of their cage as Javas are smaller than a lovebird (think a few cm bigger than a common house sparrow) and are therefore a lot more fragile.
Thanks UrbanSylvanus! That is all very helpful. I'm OK with molting. As long as s/he doesn't create a dust storm every time they shake. With our cockatoo, the entire room was constantly covered in a thick coat of white powder, but toos are notoriously dusty. Since you have Linnies as well, would you mind giving me a quick run down on them as well? Other than the Java finch, we have been considering Linnies and Bourkes. The only two cons I've heard about Linnies are their large messy and sometimes projectile poops (do they really hit the walls?) and that they can become hand shy once mature. Thoughts? If you could only pick one, which do you think makes the better pet?
 

Peepers

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Peepers - love the name! We are looking to add a bird to our family and are seriously considering a java sparrow/finch. Problem is, I can't find too much info about them. I also saw them on Love of Pets, and there's a breeder near me in Calgary who regularly posts in one of our Calgary pages about her birds, but that's about it. I have three youngish children who are really excited about their first bird experience. I grew up with a larger cockatoo and lovebird. I love birds, but am looking to play it pretty safe with this first bird adventure for my family -- nothing too dusty (our cockatoo was a dust ball), too loud (again we could hear the cockatoo down the street), too nippy (my lovebird was very tame, but still nipped a lot and their beaks are sharp), or too messy (e.g. throwing seed and chop for fun, projectile poops, etc.). I'm also hoping for a bird that will happily perch on more than one family member. Would love to hear about your experience as a Java finch owner.
Hi Allison! UrbanSylvanus answered a lot of your questions (thank you!), but I'll jump in here as well. :)

The moulting doesn't bother me, and I have sinus issues. I guess it depends on each person. No one in my family had issues when our bird was moulting, and she isn't dusty at all.

Peepers loves throwing her seeds and veggies around (don't all birds? lol), which can be a bit messy, but no big deal. Yes, she poops a lot but the poops are tiny and if I lightly touch the poop with a tissue, it comes right off any fabric.

She goes to everyone in the family (except people she doesn't see regularly).

I'm not sure how the males are, but Peepers, can have a bit of a "temper" (I don't know if it's because she's an adolescent right now), and does what I call her "angry garbles" as a warning before she bites. Her bites don't hurt much, as she has a tiny beak. It might hurt little fingers, though. How old are your children? My youngest is 9. I wouldn't recommend javas for very young children, as finches are small and fragile and sometimes children don't know their own strength.

All that being said, Peepers is a great little bird full of personality in a small package. Her cage is next to my teenaged son's desk in the living room, and whenever he gets up and leaves, she chirps a lot in protest. She also chirps excitedly when she hears the bedroom doors opening and closing upstairs, because she knows someone is coming. She does the same when we've been out and return home. So cute! We are still waiting for her flight feathers to come in (they were clipped when he got her), so hopefully she can spend a lot more time outside the cage. We handle her as much as possible to keep her tame.

I considered linnies too, but their massive, watery poops were a deal breaker (especially for my husband, lol). UrbanSylvanus has linnies, and hopefully will answer your questions soon.

Any other questions, just ask! :)
 

UrbanSylvanus

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Thanks UrbanSylvanus! That is all very helpful. I'm OK with molting. As long as s/he doesn't create a dust storm every time they shake. With our cockatoo, the entire room was constantly covered in a thick coat of white powder, but toos are notoriously dusty. Since you have Linnies as well, would you mind giving me a quick run down on them as well? Other than the Java finch, we have been considering Linnies and Bourkes. The only two cons I've heard about Linnies are their large messy and sometimes projectile poops (do they really hit the walls?) and that they can become hand shy once mature. Thoughts? If you could only pick one, which do you think makes the better pet?
Sure thing! I have both a female and a male Linnie and I’ve found them to be a lot more calm than my finch in terms of disposition. They’re also slower in movement as well, probably because they’re built more solid than other parrots their size (linnie mass varies greatly but my male is 50g and my female is 45 for a pair of birds that are around 16cm in length)and tend to be pretty eccentric and intelligent from what I can tell.
The rumors are correct in that they have wet poops, but my male does a big one before coming out of his cage and occasionally does a couple of small ones outside and my female just goes back into her cage to do medium sized ones every once in a while. I guess the amount depends on the Linnie lol?
As for being hand-shy that also seems to depend on the Linnie. My male doesn’t mind perching on my hand sometimes while my female doesn’t want to, but she cuddles into my hand for scritches for some reason. Both of them don’t seem to like my hand as much as my finch does though.
If you need more information though, I suggest you take a look in the Linnie specific part of the forum, Linnie Landing! People more experienced than I should be able to help you as well!
 

Gigibirds

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Ooh congrats on your new bird!! Peepers is adorable! I love java finches!
 
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