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In captivity
I have seen red billed firefinches dust bathe- they are
African
For Australian
Painteds
Zebra finches
1 redbrow hen
No more than about 5 events have I seen it, over 25
years of keeping birds. For 10 years I had around about 200 birds. One day
about 5 zebra finches all dust bathed, it happened the next day, but then
never again. A bit strange.
One painted finch I saw dust bathe twice, only did it
for a few seconds each time, just the neck, upper breast. The redbrow hen dust
bathed her chest and may have had an irritation.
I expect that Pictorellas may dust bathe, but I havent kept
them. They are the most 'terrestrial' of Australian finches.
I have seen immature finches being covered in dirt showers
when quails dust bathe. They dont seem to try to get out of the way. 1 zebra
finch and 1 java finch did actively run under a dust shower but I
suspect they actually wanted to be brooded by the quail rather than covered
in dirt.
I imagine it would occur sometimes, very rarely, in
the wild where preferred dust is found.
Finches are known to use charcoal in their nests and if you
provide it powdered they may 'bath' in it. I have not seen this but have heard
about it. Masks and Painteds use charcoal a lot in their nests. It
can be funny because they can turn black in patches.
I suspect finches may also 'ant' on very rare occasions. I
think I have seen it twice but couldnt guarantee that is what they were
doing, and I discourage ants entering aviaries cause they kill
chicks.
Finches will bathe every day in water, even during winter,
if the right conditions are provided. I have seen them often bathe in water in
the wild, they probably dont need to dust bathe. To improve feather maintenance
and condition when showing birds a key thing is to spray them with water to
encourage preening. It may have something to do with the oil
gland.
Benj Whitworth
Hello All,
This enquiry was sent to AfricanBirding and I am
passing it on. Does anyone know about whether any of the Australian native
finches indulge in dust bathing. They certainly like water bathing and the
sparrow does dust bathing. So the enquiry relates to family Passeridae (as in
Christidis & Boles), with the exception of genus Passer.
Philip
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