Meet Sheridan & Petal, both very good parents, although Sheridan tends to become lazy and does not want to do his share, in which case Petal chases him until he does what she wants him to - which is usually sit on the nest while she takes a break.
Sheridan does help feed the babies, but is a compulsive nest builder and will continue building the nest around the babies, so we have to eliminate anything that could be used as nesting material from his cage. Once the babies have fledged, Sheridan continues to feed them and teach them - probably to be just like him. All zebra finch have different songs - Sheridan's is a very distinct and high-pitched "wanna sticky banana, sticky banana, sticky banana" and we have to explain we did not teach him to say this, it's his song.
Petal is a cry-baby. Her cry is a long low beeeeeeep over and over. If Sheridan doesn't do what she wants, she cries, and we come. If she wants her water changed, she cries, and we come. If she wants more food, she cries, we come and she shows us exactly what she wants. Every time we hear that long low beep - we come, and even someone who doesn't know her can usually figure out what she wants. Have we been trained or what? |
