Store is zebra finch's home sweet home

Having depleted my store of bird seed, I headed for one of my favorite retail outlets. I find that visiting a shop that specializes in birdlife items is always a pleasant experience. I enjoy browsing among the tapes of bird songs, pictures of birds, field guides and birding books, birdbaths and birdhouses, fountains, squirrel-proof feeders, suet cakes and other merchandise.

As I was visualizing these things in and around my home, a little bird flew by. The woman at the counter said the bird, called Littleman, is a zebra finch that has been free since he first learned to fly.

After flitting among the cages where other zebra finches live, he eventually flew to his favorite perch, a section of wood lath near the big window by the door. From there, he watched the comings and goings both inside and outside the store.

I asked the clerk if Littleman ever tried to leave when the door was open. She said he never seemed interested. In fact, he appeared quite content indoors, where he has the companionship of other finches, a separate area for food, drinking water and a bath, plus free run of the place.

Small, sleek and handsome, about the size of a chickadee, zebra finches are Australian weaver-birds. Mostly gray, they have black and white stripes on their tail feathers, dark heads with black tear-stain marks under the eyes, and grayish-white bellies.

The males have thick, red beaks, bright patches of orange on their cheeks, and russet and white mottling at the edges of the wings, framing their breasts. They have orange legs and feet.

The females are plainer: primarily gray except for black facial markings and orange beaks, legs and feet.

Zebra finches like to make nests. The clerk put some soft nesting material on the counter as I watched, and Littleman snatched it in his bill. He placed it on top of a cage, where the other zebras quickly took it and pulled it apart.

The clerk mentioned that Littleman occasionally landed on her head, trying to gather some hair -- a practice she has not encouraged.

Zebra finches can brighten a bird cage; their soft songs are sweet, chirping notes. I think it would be exciting to have a pair of them.