The Plum Headed Finch (Neochmia modesta) is more commonly
known as the Cherry Finch in aviculture and is a common estrildid finch from
Australia. It is of the same finch
family as the Star Finch.
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| Cherry Finch sunbathing with a Zebra Finch |
Natural Environment
In the wild, these little birds live in the dry savannah and
dry shrubland areas of Australia, where it is a species of Least Concern. It lives across Northern Queensland south to
the interior areas of eastern Australia and New South Wales.
The Plum Headed finch generally is a bit nomadic and travels
around searching for food and water. Residents
of the areas have often reported them being around in large numbers then
vanishing for a period before abruptly reappearing.
Their natural diet are the seeds of the plants they live
amongst and in captivity, this translates to a good foreign finch seed
mixture. They will appreciate live food
such as mealworms and will also relish a range of fresh food such as greens
like kale or spinach, fruit and vegetables.
Plum headed finches enjoy bathing so as well as having access to fresh
drinking water, they should have somewhere to enjoy a good, clean bath every
day.
Getting to know
Sexing can be easier than with some finches as the male has
a dark spot below the beak that is not on the female’s throat. Sometimes, the plum headed patch is larger on
the males than females. There are three
main colours; the normal bird where the head is plum coloured, the back and
wings are brown with white flecks and the breast and belly are white and brown
striped. The tail has brown and white
barring a little like a zebra finch. The
other two mutations are the fawn, where all colours are dilute and the Isabel,
which is lighter again and the breast barring is almost dark cream.
Keeping Plum Headed finches in a mixed aviary is probably an
ideal environment. While genetically
they can cross with Star Finches, I don’t know anyone who this has happened to
but they do live happily with them. I
have four Plums in my mixed collection with six Star Finches as well as other
Australian and African finches. They are
sociable, often preening other nearby birds when preening themselves and share
the feed stations well with others.
While no finch ever becomes truly tame, Plums are one of the
finches that can get a level of trust in their human keepers and befriend
you. One of my birds in particular will
come each morning for the first grab of food from my hand and is hard to
dislodge so I can feed the others! He
even comes to the door on an evening if he feels a little extra food should be
provided or flies at me to prompt me.
That is not to say that they cannot be kept in an indoor
aviary, a large cage or even a breeding cage.
Much of their adaptability will come from what they have been raised in –
if in a cage then a cage is nothing new to them. But if raised in an aviary, then a cage may
be a bit of a shock.
Nesting
In the wild, these finches build a small domed nest that
tends to be slightly taller than wider and it made with grasses. It doesn’t have an entrance tunnel and is
often lined with feathers. They choose a
nesting spot that is near the ground, often amongst dense shrubbery and near
live grasses to construct with.
A typical clutch is between 4-6 eggs and both parents share
in the incubation duties during the day, both sleeping in the nest on a
night. They hatched around 12-14 days
and are ready to fledge at around 21 days.
While not as nervous on the nest as some of their Star Finch cousins, it
is best to avoid disturbing them.
In captivity, they will easily use a nesting box and fill it
with nesting materials such as jute, coconut fibre, sisal and such. They will also build their own nests as they
would in the wild when the right conditions are present.
