by Jayne Yantz

First Published in BirdTalk Magazine
(December 1994).
Copyrighted material used with permission.

I bought a mate green singing finch, but "he" laid an egg. How do you sex them? I read that the female has a neck of round dots. My bird has a necklace, not of dots. What type of nests do singers use? 

Would a pair be peaceful in my mixed flight (6 feet tall by 3 feet deep by 2 feet wide), which houses four societies, two zebras, two Bourke's parakeets an two canaries?


Very attractive, chipper little songbirds, green singing finches (Serinus mozambicus) are popular African serins that are closely related to canaries. The male's sweet, canary like song is one way to tell the sexes apart, but it is easier to rely on appearance of the adult birds. Males have grayish-green plumage with yellow stripes and bright yellow breasts.

Similarly colored, females are duller overall and wear a necklace of dark spot around the neck. (Usually, the spots a indistinct and irregular, not perfectly round.) The only difficulty occurs when sexing juveniles, which resemble adult females.

Offer your green singer a finch seed mixture plus a little song food (a dark, oily seed mixture, containing seeds such as niger, rape or poppy). Add some canary or finch nestling food, complete (pelleted) food or mashed, hard-boiled egg mixture. Green singers also appreciate greens, a favorite item with serins and ripening seedling heads, such a chickweed or plantain. Also include cuttlebone, vitamins/minerals and a litti grit. To please breeding birds, augment this menu with a few small mealworm and soaked seeds.

When you get a male for your female (which you should do), give your birds choice of open wicker canary nest where a small, cup-shaped nest will be built. Offer varied nesting material, including grass, moss, burlap, rootlets and some fine materials, such as soft feathers or plant down, for nest lining. Place nests in well-concealed locations among foliage, so breeding birds fee safe and secure.

As the birds get ready to breed, the male's song will become more persistent and he will engage in courtship feeding, which occurs when the male puts small bits of food into the female's beak. Despite the charm of courtship feeding, expect the birds to become territorial and possibly aggressive when they are in breeding condition. It may be best keep breeding green singers in their own cage or flight.

During the nonbreeding season, green singing finches are more peaceful individuals. How peaceful they are, however, seems to depend on the particular bird you have, because reports vary about how well this species gets along in a mixed flight. If you mix green singers, keep them in a heavily camouflaged, large flight with other species of about the same size and assertiveness. House only one pair per flight. And check them regularly. If there is a problem, separate your birds.

Regarding your flight, which has a floor space of only 3 feet by 2 feet, your birds are already a bit crowded. Although a height of 6 feet provides a reasonable amount of room up and down, it is floor space (the length and width of the enclosure) that is important when creating a mixed flight. Your enclosure does not allow much room for the individual birds or pairs to perch at a comfortable distance from their neighbors, especially when the birds all try to perch at the top, the preferred spot for roosting. In a space this small, it is also difficult to escape an aggressive neighbor if conflicts occur.

To reduce stress and prevent injuries in a mixed flight, it is important to combine birds that are about the same size. It is also best to avoid combining hookbills and finches. Your Bourke's, then, should be housed separately. It may not be a good idea to mix green singers and other serins (including canaries), either. Housing closely related species may prompt rivalries or result in unwanted hybrids, although, in your case, I suspect hybrids are unlikely without your encouragement.

Hardy and easy to maintain, green singers are attractive, long-lived birds (some, living as long as 15 or 20 years) that will cheer you with their lively, pretty song. Many birdkeepers report that green singers become tame easily and make wonderful pets. I have not attempted to tame my green singers, but have noticed they are responsive birds with a lot of curiosity, and I find it is easy to recommend them.

However, green singers should be allowed to breed, not just kept as pets. Green singers have strong breeding instincts that need to be fulfilled. Also, green singers will be increasingly difficult to obtain in the future, because they are among the birds listed on Appendix III of CITES*. Birds on this list can no longer be imported: If we don't breed them, we won't have them. Many finches that were once common, such as green singers, are now essentially rare birds. If you have green singers or other species on Appendix III, plan to breed your birds and give them the best care possible.
*CITES--(C)onvention on (I)nternational (T)rade in (E)ndangered (S)pecies.