Zebra finches

50 zebra finches bring joy to the bird house at Gut Aiderbichl Henndorf

The Aiderbichler bird house has grown enormously. A few weeks ago, 50 zebra finches moved in.
Zebra finches are neither quarrelsome nor vicious, but simply funny. The group lived in Salzburg in a beautiful bird room with a lady who became very ill. Everything got out of hand until the animals were unfortunately taken away from her by the authorities.

Where to put 50 zebra finches? The first transport took them to Salzburg Zoo in Hellbrunn, where they were examined and showed no signs of disease. Unfortunately, their stay at the zoo was not a permanent solution. They were kept in a large aviary there and spent the quarantine period here before being brought to Gut Aiderbichl in Henndorf.

The story is a very moving one and it was exciting until the birds were able to become Aiderbichlers. But sometimes it’s like this: good things take time. “We learnt about the case and are very happy to take in the zebra finches,” said Aiderbichl vet Marianne Wondrak.

"Däääät, dääääät" - means in the zebra finch language:

Come here, everyone, we'll tell you about ourselves ...

The home of zebra finches, like budgerigars, is Australia, where they live together in small groups. Alongside budgerigars and canaries, the pretty zebra finches are often kept in flats and spend their lives there as pets. In the wild, they prefer to live near streams and rivers.

The term zebra finch comes from the black and white breast colouring of the males. The stripes extend towards the centre of the breast and form a black spot here. The male zebra finch has orange-brown cheek patches and brown flank bands with many white spots. A common characteristic of males and females are the black teardrop stripes, which are separated from the red beak by white stripes and a narrow black stripe.

The little finches curiously explore their new surroundings

A new bird language has arrived at the bird house in Henndorf. The zebra finch calls the other group members together with “dääät” or “tiäääääää”. We almost always find our 50 small, colourful friends sitting on a perch in a large flock to rest, or flying around and flirting with the budgerigars.

The many white and wild-coloured zebra finches have now been in their new home for almost a month and it is great fun to listen to the “dääääät” and “tiääääääääää”. The animal keepers have learnt how to feed their new little friends properly.

An Easter trip to the zebra finches

If you would like to visit our zebra finches, budgerigars and much more during the Easter holidays, you are welcome to enter our “bird chirping house”. It’s fun and relaxing at the same time to spend time with the birds in the small garden.