All about the Finches Nest
Finches are quite fun to watch. One of their fun activities that amuse lots of bird lovers is when they’re building their nests. The male finch goes out repeatedly to gather materials to build a nest for their babies. He comes back with these materials and shows them one by one to his partner, the female finch. The female finch inspects each one and selects which ones are good. Sometimes she drops the materials by accident and the male finch goes and picks them up. Then she slowly builds the nest, with the male finch assisting her or making the final touches… Now isn’t that adorable?
Finch nests in the wild may be made of such materials as cotton wool, animal hair, twigs, soft grass, course grass, plant and vegetable matter, moss, burlap / hessian, shrubs, and materials from trees. If you are breeding finches, you must provide your finches with materials in advance. Do not wait until they lay their eggs. It may compromise the health of the eggs or the parents may abandon their nests if they are partially made, hence endangering the younglings.
Instead, make sure to have nesting materials ready and make sure your finches have lots of choices to choose from by varying the material’s textures, shapes, and sizes. For instance, you can offer different textures by choosing different species of grass. Not all grass has the same texture so this is good. And then vary their size and length as well.
Variety is important so they can build strong yet comfortable nests. A mixture of choices is important so your finches can complete their nests. Partially made nests are usually due to not having enough materials readily available. Remember that a partially made nest is a not a good home for the younglings.
Feathers are extremely useful for finches. Leave a few feathers lying around so your finches can use them. Twigs of varying sizes and elasticity are also useful. Burlap / hessian are common choices and so is tissue. Household litter, flowers, and ferns are also good choices. Some birds may even use mud or spider webs in building their nest.
However, do not to take materials from the nests of wild birds. They may contain mites, parasites, and potentially pathogenic bacteria. Nests made by your own finches can be recycled and they have no apprehensions about that. Again, just remember not to bring anything that was once a part of another nest used by other birds from the outside.
If your finches are housed in an aviary with plants inside, your birds may build their nests on the branches of the plants there. If your aviary is the walk-in type, tread lightly because you might endanger their homes. Nest boxes or woven nests can be purchased in pet stores – finches will nest in these too. Some even make nests out of planter pots. If you want to try this avenue, make sure to secure it to a piece of wood or something that doesn’t easily budge and is stable.
