I have some
delightful, tame rice finches
and would like information on their care.
Several letters have arrived asking about rice birds and commenting on the
steady, confiding personality of these attractive finches. When treated with
kindness and patience, rice birds often become quite tame, making them easy to
recommend as calm, steady and responsive pets. Rice birds are hardy, fairly
long-lived and easy to keep in good health, so they are also excellent finches
for beginners.
Originally from Java and Bali, Java rice birds (also called Java Rice finches or
Java sparrows) are striking birds wearing gray plumage on their bodies and black
on their heads and tails. Their black head feathers are accented by bold white
cheek patches, pink eye rings and large, pink bills. Both sexes look alike
(although males may have larger, brighter bills than females). When creating
pairs, it is easiest to rely on the song of the males, since females do not
sing.
To feed Java rice birds, begin with a finch or budgie mix that contains large
millet (white proso) and canary seed. Rice birds, which have fairly long, strong
beaks, also enjoy other comparatively large seeds for finches, such as rye,
wheat, hemp, rice and oats. (My rice birds' favorite is oats, which I serve in a
separate cup.) In addition to dry seed mixtures, rice birds also enjoy soaked or
sprouted seeds, dry or soaked millet sprays and ripening seedling heads,
including crabgrass and plantain, which my rice birds devour eagerly.
For additional protein, add some soft foods, such as mashed, hard-boiled egg
mixture, nestling foods or pelleted (complete) foods for small birds. In
addition, my rice birds relish live food, especially small mealworms, which are
a fine protein-rich supplement.
Rice birds also enjoy fresh greens, particularly green, leafy spinach, which is
highly recommended. Some rice birds also eat veggies, such as fresh green beans.
To serve green beans, I snap both ends off and attach a bean to a perch. Then my
rice birds eagerly peck the succulent ends of the bean. In addition, offer rice
birds cuttlebone, finely ground oyster shell or mineral mixture and a little
grit.
To accommodate rice birds, also offer fresh drinking and bathing water daily.
Rice birds are avid bathers (something several readers reported about their rice
birds) and deserve the opportunity for a daily bath. After a bath is provided,
chances are good that the entire flock will congregate for bathing, and you will
soon hear the whirl of rice birds wings vigorously shaking water from their
plumage. Bathing helps keep your birds plumage in top condition, and it is a
community activity rice birds enjoy.
Since rice birds are relatively large finches (measuring about 6 inches long),
provide a cage at least 30 inches in length. Or, if possible, offer a cage
closer to 40 inches in length, which provides more room for exercise and
encourages rice birds to stay active. Now domestically bred, rice birds do
accept caged life well, but, like all finches, rice birds benefit from roomy
quarters.
Give your rice birds a little security and privacy by adding some plants as
camouflage, or place a partial cage cover over a portion of the top of the cage
(covering the roosting or nesting site, for example). My rice birds do prefer
sleeping in a nest box at night, so I usually provide one. If a roosting nest
encourages the birds to breed continuously, however, remove the nest, since rice
birds do adjust to sleeping on a perch, especially if the roosting spot has a
little plant cover to screen the sleepers from view.
Rice birds will breed readily and will raise young in a cage. Give your birds a
relatively large nest, such as a large finch nest box or a budgie nest box.
(Many breeders recommend using budgie boxes, but my rice birds do well using
slightly smaller, homemade finch boxes.) For nesting material, offer dried
grasses, coconut fiber, bits of white tissue paper and feathers. After eggs
hatch, be sure adults are receiving nutritious soft foods they can feed their
nestlings, including nestling foods, hard-boiled eggs, soaked seed, ripening
seedling heads, greens or live food. My breeding rice birds also consume
pelleted food, especially toward the end of the nestling stage.
Rice birds, which may breed best when in sight or sound of other rice birds, can
be bred on the colony system or as pairs housed in large, mixed flights with
other finches that are approximately the same size as the rice birds; however,
they should not be housed with smaller, more timid or more delicate species,
including most waxbills.
Java rice birds, usually classified as mannikins
(a group including such favorites as society
finches, spice finches and silverbills),
have been bred in captivity long enough to have a number of established color
mutations, including white, pied and fawn. Unfortunately, there seems to be a
trend to cross normal (original gray) rice birds with color mutations, making it
increasingly difficult to locate pure, normally colored, gray rice birds.
Consider this when breeding rice birds, and plan to preserve the strikingly
beautiful original form of this bird for future generations.
Rice birds are highly social birds with very interesting behaviors. Mates sit
side by side and preen their partners. During courtship, males can be observed
displaying to their mates by bobbing on the perch and singing. Perhaps the most
interesting display is the greeting display, which is performed after mates have
been separated or when mates preen each other in the morning: Both partners hop
toward one another, bowing and lifting their heads, so each takes a turn at
raising its head above its mate's. Equally notable aggressive displays are
enacted between rivals (with beaks pointed and heads waving from side to side),
so watch for very engaging behavior from your rice birds.
Despite their wonderful qualities as pets, possession of rice birds is
restricted in some states. Before acquiring rice birds, check with your state
fish and game officials to be sure rice birds can be kept legally in your state.
Copyright 2005 Finchworld, Inc.
