Peter's New Flock of Females

 Amidst this challenging week, Mary was cast into mourning when her Society finch Clara died.

Clara was adopted into our home, along with her mate Peter--whom we thought at the time was her pal Heidi!--in January 2019, so she lived here almost two years. Clara had broken her foot and was a delicate bird with a forever maimed foot and while Mary yearned even more to adopt her, Clara was given away free because the pet store did not charge for "damaged" birds.

Clara was never damaged in Mary's eyes. Mary was an excellent bird mama who cleaned the cage on schedule, covered their cage appropriately, fed them and watered them well, and even made them special dietary food to strengthen them. Mary would play her violin for the birds, who loved to sing back to her, or leave classical radio playing for them instead.

A close-up of Clara (note the foot she is favoring)

When it was time to clean the cage, Clara was so easy to catch and so tame that she would lie on her back in Mary's hands, just limp and relaxed.

We are not sure why Clara died, but it was sudden and without any visible signs of distress, as is very often the case with birds in general and tiny birds like finches in particular.

A handwoven basket as her casket

Her final resting place

Mary was in no hurry to replace Clara, but finches are not meant to be alone: it is quite bad for them. Since Clara died, Peter had sat on his perch silently. Gone was his machismo and his virile singing. Mary knew he needed a new lady friend.

And then Mama suggested that several new females wouldn't be that much more work than one female, right?

Introducing Peter and the three new ladies! Names are being finalized.

Peter is the one with orange cheeks and the third bird from the left.