Parson Finches by Kerri McCoy

The Parson's finch, also called the black throated finch, is a stunning Australian finch with a very peaceful nature. Although it should not be housed with the closely related Heck's grassfinch or the masked grassfinch; I have found that housing it with any of the other Australian finches to not be a problem. I have even housed young, just-weaned zebra finches with the parson's with great results.

The Parson's finch's overall length is roughly 4 inches. Beak color is black depending upon the color mutation. Parson's colors range from the normal as described below to cremes and fawns. The head of a normal is a beautiful blue/gray with black streaks around the eyes giving it an almost oriental appearance. Below the beak and running down to the top of the chest is a bold black bib. The chest itself is a soft brown, and the back of the body is a rich cinnamon-brown. The abdomen and vent areas are white. The tail is black and definitely shorter than the Heck's, ending in a square. A large black patch is also present on the lower flanks. The legs are faded orange in color, depending on the mutation.

Sexing of the Parsons can prove difficult to the uneducated eye. Although seeing a male and female beside one another resting on a perch, the sexing is quite easy. The male's bib is quite wider than the females. Although if you were to catch them up the bib size changes as the bird moves its neck. One cannot sex Parsons only on bib size. There are many in between bib sizes that makes sexing visually, almost impossible. I have also noticed that the head of the male is usually slightly lighter in color than that of the female. But, to surely distinguish the sexes one must wait for the male to sing his whistling song. While singing his neck area will also extend somewhat making watching for the males a little easier.

It is advisable to allow Parsons to choose their own mates. Once, the birds have chosen their mates the bonding between them is unsurpassable. Parson pairs bond for life and a large percentage of their time is spent doting upon one another.

My experience with the Parsons is that they love mealworms with a passion. Limiting them to 1 or 2 each 2x a day is best. Feeding mealworms and an eggfood (rearing food) helps put them in the breeding mood. They will usually choose a box nest over a rattan style nest. They tend to use bermuda grasses initially and then line the nest with soft materials such as burlap and

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