Since ancient times, people have domesticated songbirds and exotic birds that brought joy to the home. And over time, the birds became full members of the family. For the sake of fairness, we note that birds should live in the wild, and we agree with this. But children who live with birds from an early age will never harm nature, which is especially important for today. Children living in the Far North are already limited in communication with nature, and the singing and fluttering of birds among green plants has a beneficial effect on the psychological state of children and adults.

We chose zebra finches as the objects of our research, since the mini-zoo of the Children's Ecological Station is home to 5 species of these birds. Zebra finches first appeared at the Children's Ecological Station in 2001. The birds were kept in spacious wooden cages, in which tree branches and closed nests were installed. During this period, zebra finches were highly fertile. But in 2004, the wooden cages were replaced by new, smaller iron cages. Since then, no offspring of zebra finches have been produced. Cages containing zebra finches are located in a passageway, in a crowded room with low humidity, which causes anxiety in the birds. All these reasons, in our opinion, led to disruption of feather formation, since the birds were constantly in a state of stress. Transplanting the birds into a quieter room, irradiating them with ultraviolet lamps, and feeding them with vitamins and microelements did not lead to positive results. Then we decided to place the birds with the cage in a greenhouse-type DES greenhouse.

Having studied the literature on keeping zebra finches, we found that all authors describe keeping these birds in cages and garden enclosures. But we did not find data on the maintenance of zebra finches outside cages, for example, in greenhouse conditions in free flight.

Our research work is novel because, having studied the maintenance of zebra finches in a greenhouse, we can make recommendations for the maintenance of finches in winter gardens, courtyards, greenhouses and share our experience with other lovers of exotic birds, in this case zebra finches.

In the city of Novy Urengoy, many educational institutions have winter gardens, courtyards, greenhouses, and our experience in breeding zebra finches in free flight can be useful to them.

All authors, without exception, believe that zebra finches are beautiful, interesting indoor birds. As Rakhmanov A.I writes. in his book “Finches, Astrilds and Widows,” zebra finches are one of the most beloved and are usually kept in pairs. You can watch them for hours: how they care for each other, bathe, hatch chicks together.

For breeding birds, it is best to take male zebra finch of natural coloring, consider Bogatyrev I.A. and Gavrilova M.V. in the book “Rare Pets”, since the natural coloring is the most beautiful: the top of the head, neck and front of the back of the male are ash-gray. The upper tail coverts are black with white tips and create a striped pattern. The front of the neck and chest have a thin cross-striped pattern. The combination of black and light stripes on the chest and tail creates the “zebra” coloration, from which the birds got their name.

For the purpose of breeding at home, it is better to seat individual pairs in small cages measuring 50x25x30cm. (Bogatyrev I.A., Gavrilova M.V.) or dimensions 60x35x30 cm (Gusev I.E.). Nest houses can be cubic, with a side of 12 cm, the entrance hole can be round or slot-shaped, but not narrower than 3.5 cm. The best building material for a nest is soft and thin hay, which the birds (mostly the male) drag into the house. Some amateurs use finely chopped paper and cotton wool for this purpose.

Author Rakhmanov A.I. in the book “Songbirds” he talks about the conditions that need to be created during the nesting period, about the timing of the mating period (March - April). Any type of nesting device is hung from the cage, and zebra finches build a nest in it. Birds no younger than one year old and no older than seven years old can be used as breeders. If the pair is chosen successfully, then soon after hanging the nesting device, zebra finches begin to build a nest. However, to attract birds to the nesting device, you must first add a small amount of hay. During nesting, the male constantly sings a simple, one-stanza, pleasant song. However, its inviting singing, similar to the sounds made by a child’s pipe, can be unpleasant to the ear when repeated frequently. Zebra finches are very prolific. In a good couple, one brood follows another, often until the female is completely exhausted. Sometimes she continues to lay eggs, even after removing the nesting device, directly on the floor of the cage or enclosure. When the chicks hatch, they make quiet sounds, reminiscent of a slight rustle. As the offspring grow, the sounds become louder and after 8-10 days they turn into prolonged screams. After leaving the nest, young chicks return to the nest at night with their parents for another 12-14 days. When the chicks begin to eat food on their own, they need to be placed in a flight cage so that adult birds can breed new offspring without interference. Zebra finches should be fed with a grain mixture with the addition of unripe and sprouted small seeds, as well as soft food and surrogate mixtures. Zebra finch can mate and produce hybrid offspring with silver-billed finch, Japanese finch, sharp-tailed finch, short-tailed finch, tricolor finch, dandy finch, black-headed finches, and astrilds.

When the birds sit on the eggs, it is recommended to minimize all cleaning and rearranging of the cage so as not to disturb the finch. Ideally, it is better to clean the cage after the 3rd egg is laid and the next time before the chicks fly - 2-3 weeks after hatching.

Ostapenko V.A. in his book “Birds in Your Home,” he writes that after about 12-15 days from the start of incubation, the babies hatch. At first, they do not detect their presence in any way, but from the 3rd day you can already hear their “ultrasonic” squeaks during feeding. By the end of the first week of feeding, the squeaks are replaced by a distinct, demanding quack, and after 2 weeks - by a rather sharp yell. At about 17-21 days, the chicks make their first attempts to leave the nest. And they don’t always manage to come back. It’s good if, before nesting, the owner builds something like a “ladder” out of perches so that the chicks can return to the nest if it hangs high.

According to all the authors whose works we have read. Two pairs of these birds do not get along in one cage. But E.N. Senkevich disagrees with this opinion. and Senkevich L.V., who consider zebra finches to be collective birds that stay in flocks even during the nesting period. We also agree with them, since at the Children's Ecological Station all zebra finches are kept in one enclosure and get along well with each other.

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