THE BLACK BROWN SOCIETY

 

The Black Brown Society Finch is without a doubt the most striking of all Societies. However it is quite far removed from the standard Society Finch we are familiar with. Black Browns had their origin some 20+ years ago in Europe. Their history begins by crossing the common Society Finch with a Black Manakin of Southeast Asia. The cross was made to bring in the intense black color that was need to ultimately make the Black Brown Society. We will likely never know the details of the hybridization process; how long it took, what the first birds looked like, or how they bred. What we do know is that the hybridization was successful and caught on very quickly. A strain of Society Finches was created that had very black color and prominent scaling on the belly. Within a couple of decades after the first hybrids were produced, nearly every breeder of exhibition Society Finches was breeding Black Browns and the standard Chocolate Society Finch all but disappeared. Both the color and size of the Society Finch changed. These are considerably larger birds with a color pattern never seen on the original Society Finch. These changes are just the surface changes for, the entire bird has been greatly altered by the process.
 
Few would disagree that the Black Brown Society Finch is a spectacular bird. But, likewise few would disagree that this new Society Finch does not behave nor bred like its former domestic ancestor. Black Browns do seem to retain an unfortunate habit of their hybrid ancestry; a less cooperative inclination to breed. They are harder to breed, produce fewer fertile eggs, less apt to be good parents, and in general present the finch breeder with problems never before encountered with the original Society Finch. Black Browns often must be coaxed in to building a nest in order to stimulate the female to lay eggs. Many Black Browns are poor parents many times simply not following through with raising their young. I have had to foster nearly all of my Black Brown Society Finches under standard Society Finches in order to raise them.
 
Nevertheless, they are the most sought after birds because of their unique color. I seriously doubt they will ever replace the common Society Finch. However they are destined to remain sought after both for showing and for their unique appearance.
 
Black Browns are completely fertile with standard Society Finches. I have used them to improve the size and color of Chocolate Selfs and these crosses are quite spectacular in their own right. Below are pictures of Black Browns

 

More later as I have time to write about them. Black Browns are priced at $50, $75 and $100 each, price depends on over all size of bird (all of them are large, some larger than others), depth of color (level of black does vary) and prominence of scaling on the underparts. (scaling varies from bold, well defined, to less bold and poorly defined) Birds with less well defined scaling can certainly produce offspring that have bold scaling and vice versa.) Here are a couple of picts from my Euro Society Breeding Room. I have 40 individual cages set up in the room plus 3 large walkin flights for resting birds. Pict #1; Pict #2

 

 

 

Some picts of Black Browns

 

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