Ask Lafeber

Zebra finch whimpering

From the past week or two, 1 of my zebra finches is just at times making these whimpering sounds, chattering its beak fast and silently. At this time, it also moves slowly and acts like its wierdly in a sort of slow motion. Past few days its been doing this more than usual. There are 7 finches in the cage, so I don’t think it has to do with loneliness. Any suggestions what’s happening?

Hi,

This sounds like hormonal behavior and the bird wants to mate. There should not be any nests in the cage with that many birds. If you want to breed, you have to separate them by pairs with one pair per cage. If any of them lay eggs while in this group cage, just discard the eggs.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda