People who love birds, often love different species. Is it safe to combine different species of birds together?

Generally it is best to not allow different species to mingle except ocassionally outside their cages in a neutral area. In this instance, you must constantly be careful to watch 100% of the time to make sure that one bird does not bully another.

I have heard many sad stories of one bird killing or seriously injuring another and these are normally different sized and species of parrots.

If the birds are of similar size and temperment, they may become buddies, but even same size and same species of parrots can turn on their companion in an instant.

One time that you can be fairly sure of success in mixing species is to combine varies types of similar sized finches. Even with finches, you have to make sure they are similar sized and temperment though. Along with the birds being similar sized and temperment, it is also a little safer to combine birds of the same sex together.

I used to keep a flock of assorted male finches in a large aviary. This aviary consisted of the smaller finches and they all got along just fine. The birds I had were – Zebra Finch, Society Finch, Strawberry Finch, Fire Finch, Cordon Bleu, Owl Finch, Orange Cheeked Waxbill, St Helena Waxbill, Lavender Waxbill, African Silverbill and Spice Finch.

Along with those birds, in the same flight, I also kept Diamond Doves, Cockatiels and Chinese Painted Quail. Another time, instead of the Diamond Doves, I had Ring Necked Doves – but I would not have kept the Ring Necked Doves in with the Diamond Doves.

Cockatiels are a parrot/parakeet species and individual personalities come into play. Although I never had a problem between any of my cockatiels with the tiny finches, it is possible that some cockatiels may harass them.

A slightly larger group that could be kept together would be Canary, Cut-throat Finch, Whydah, Mannikin Finch, Java Rice Finch, Parrot Finch. Cockatiels could also be kept in with these birds, but I would not put the little Diamond Doves in with them although the larger Ring Necked Doves should be ok. The little quails would also be fine in this group and if you don't have any doves at all, a Budgie might also be ok.

With any group of birds, you have to deal with individual personalities and must be careful to observe the birds to make sure that no one is being bullied. The options if this happens to to either remove the bird being bullied or remove the bird(s) doing the bullying.

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Do you keep different birds together? Why not drop by the forum where we can all talk about this.