Finch Vocalisations Guide

Thinking of keeping finches indoors, or close to your living or sleeping areas?

One thing to consider is how much noise the different species make...

KEY

Volume: 

1 - 2 = Very quiet    3 - 4 = Quiet    5 - 6 = Moderate    7 - 8 = Loud    9 - 10 = Very loud

Note that:  - 'Very loud' in finch world is still only 'Moderate' in comparison with parrot calls

                  - Baby finches calling to be fed can raise the volume significantly

                  - Cocks are often louder than hens of the same species

Proportion (%) of time spent calling: 

= Rare  = Occasional  = Continuous   

Note that most finches are silent at night.

Pleasantness:   

P = Pleasant / melodious    N = Neutral     A = Annoying     G = Grating   

Audio:     Click the speaker symbols to listen to sound clips.

               (Some of these have Zebra sounds in the background - try to ignore the little honks!)

 

Species Most Common Call(s) Occasional Call(s) Song
Pleasant-ness Usual volume % of time spent calling Pleasant-ness Maximum volume Pleasant-ness
Avadavat - Green N 8 N 9 P
Avadavat - Strawberry N 8 N 9 P
Black Rumped Waxbill N P (?) (?) (?) (?)
Canary N 6-9 / N / A 10 P / A
Cordon Bleu - Blue Capped N 4-7 N 9 N P Blue Capped Cordon Bleu song
Cordon Bleu - Red Cheeked N 4-7 N  Red Cheeked Cordon Bleu sounds 9 P
Cuban Melodious Finch N 5-7 N 8 N P
Cut Throat Finch (?) 4

(?)

 (?) (?) (?)
Crimson Finch (?) 4-7

(?)

 (?) 8 (?)
Diamond Sparrow / Firetail (?) (?)

(?)

 (?) (?) (?)
European Goldfinch N P 4-8 N 9 P  Has some Zebra and Gouldian sounds in the background!
Firefinch - Red-billed / Ruddy N 1-3 N 4 No discernable song (?)
Golden Song Sparrow G A 9 G 10 G A
Gouldian Finch N   Gouldian Finch calls. (May not play in some media players.) 3-5 N 7 N PGouldian Finch song. (May not play in some media players.)
Greenfinch N (?)

(?)

 N (?) (?)
Grenadier Weaver (?) (?) (?) (?) (?)
Grey/Green Singer P 6-8 / P 9 P
Jacarini / Blue-backed Grassquit N 2-5   Often at night N 6 (?)
Java Finch / Sparrow N 4 N 6 P
Lavender Waxbill N 1-2 N 2 N P
Longtail / Shaftail Grassfinch A  Longtail / Shaftail Grassfinch calls 7 A 8 P  Longtail / Shaftail Grassfinch song
Masked Grassfinch N 4-7 / (?) 7 N
Melba Finch N 3 N 3 (?)
Munias/Mannikins N 3

(?)

 (?) 3 N
Orange Breasted Waxbill/Goldbreast P 2-3 N 3 N P
Orange Cheeked Waxbill A 4 (?) (?) N
Owl Finch N  Owl Finch calls 6-7 N  Owl Finch sounds 8 N  Owl Finch song
Painted Firetail N 5-7 / A 9 (?)
Parrot Finch - Blue Faced (?) 6-7 (?) (?) 8 (?)
Parrot Finch - Peales (?) (?) (?) (?) (?) (?)
Parrot Finch - Pin-tailed (?) (?) (?) (?) (?) (?)
Parrot Finch - Red-headed N 4-5 N 6 N
Parrot Finch - Tri-colour & Forbes (?) (?) (?) (?) (?)
Parson's / Black Throated Finch N 4-7 / (?) 7 N
Pictorella (?) 1-2 (?) 2 (?)
Plumheaded / Cherry Finch (?) 1-4 (?) 4 (?)
Pytilias N (?) (?) N (?) (?)
Silverbill (?) 4-5 (?) (?) P
Siskins (various) Siskin calls 5-6 (?) A (?) P
Society / Bengalese Finch N  Bengalese / Society Finch calls 8 A 9 G / NBengalese / Society Finch song
Spice Finch N (?) (?) (?) (?)
Star Finch N A 4-5 A 7 N
Swee Waxbill N 8 (?) (?) (?)
Twinspot - Dybowski (?) (?) (?) (?) (?) (?)
Twinspot - Green N (?) (?) (?) (?) N P
Zebra Finch  N AZebra Finch calls. (May not play in some media players.) 5-7 A  Zebra Finch sounds 8 N  Zebra Finch song

 

Help us to complete the above chart!  Please send your opinions about the sounds made by finches that you have kept (and any sound clips) to stephanie 'AT' insightmatters.com.

Thank you!!

Click here for Gouldian back colour genetics

Finch Vocalisations is a personal project by a member of Insight Matters staff.

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