This is a tribute to a very special Society finch named Sundae

I wanted some finches for Christmas so my husband and I got male and female pairs of Societies and Zebras. The first to be named was our female Zebra, "Claire". She was adventurous and brave so I named her after my favorite heroine in a video game series. My husband named the male Zebra "Bisley," after his favorite comic book artist who draws a character who's nickname is the "Main Man" and our Bisley is definitely the main man of the cage! We call him our big, dumb, floppy boy and he can be a bully sometimes, but he treats his mate Claire like a princess. We named our dark, brown female Society "Ameera" because it looked like she was wearing a burkha. Ameera is Islamic for princess. She is very quiet. Our male pied Society is called "Sundae" because his dark brown and white coloring makes him look like a hot fudge sundae.

My husband and I wanted to make a comfortable home for our "babies." We fawned over them, got them treats and toys and read a book about how to take proper care of finches. We never intended to breed our finches, so we got a couple of "canary" style nests for them to sleep in. I did not think our two happy couples would actually mate (yes, call me a bonehead). Of course the little stinkers started mating like bunny rabbits! We removed all eggs except one from each pair's clutch and bought fake replacement eggs. Bisley and Claire tossed their one egg, but Ameera and Sundae decided to make a go of it.

Ameera is a wonderful, determined bird and she laid on her egg constantly. Sundae helped, but she was hero of the incubation process. Now, remember, this is occurring in an open style canary nest. Poor Ameera had to battle the bully Bisley, the curious and sometimes jealous Claire, and mine and my husbands prying eyes. Our bird cage is also in our home office and our clients like to gawk at the birds. This was upsetting to Ameera as well. We tried to help by keeping the furnace set higher (with some atrocious electric bills) and by providing tons of food. Low and behold, despite all the mistakes we had made, the egg hatched. This is where our Million Dollar Bird steps in.

So, here we are with a hatchling. My husband and I searched the internet for information on how to help the new baby. We had done such a wonderful job so far, right?? We learned that we should provide lots of food (we did), warmth (we did), peace and quiet and lots of privacy. This last part was just about impossible. Everytime we came near the cage the Zebras would all pile into the Society's nest with Ameera and the hatchling. These were terrible circumstances for her to deal with. After the first few days, Sundae began to step up and feed the baby bird. Gradually, Ameera left the nest more and Sundae looked after the baby. Ameera definitely deserved a break and Sundae became the most determined father imaginable. There was always some kind of chaos going on in the cage with the Zebras bouncing around. These were all conditions that we read would cause a mother to "toss" her chick. The Societies never did. No matter what happened, Sundae would go right back to the baby and feed it. He became a "lean, mean feeding machine!" We divided the cage to keep the Zebras away from the baby. One day, Sundae escaped from the cage when I had the door open. He nearly landed on the head of our grumpy bird-hating cat "Mitz". I screamed and we got the cat out of the room and tried to catch Sundae. He was panting and did not look good. My husband covered the windows with a heavy comforter and once the room was dark, I gently put him back in the cage. We were very concerned because of his delicate little heart. If Sundae died, who would feed the baby? The baby and Ameera needed Sundae, but he looked pretty weak.

Luckily Sundae came through ok. He proved to be a strong bird who was able to overcome all of his human owners' blunders. He fed that baby like a champion. He groomed it and kept it warm and allowed Ameera to have a much needed break. My husband and I began to call him our "Million Dollar Bird." We eventually began to handle the baby and have somewhat finger tamed it. It still prefers to be a "bird" and clings to its daddy Sundae. We named the baby "Maupin" after a famous French swordswoman. Maupin follows Sundae around and butts in between him and Ameera all the time. Ameera and Maupin are always competing over who will be next to Sundae on the peg (NO MORE NESTS!!). Sundae brought the baby through some tough times and is now the center of a happy family of Societies. Bisley and Claire are no longer separated and everyone is getting along very well. We have since expanded the cage to give them lots of room to play. Despite all our mistakes, we now have 5 very happy birds.

P.S. The baby "Maupin" has begun to sing...oops...she is a HE!

***Check out our babies on YouTube. Follow this link or do a search on YouTube for BisleyRules***

Article © Ian and Robin Main 2007