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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