I started out with a pair of Zebra finches in a small outdoor aviary. Of course it wasn’t long and two became five. It is a miracle in itself that those three very very small eggs would ever hatch and survive. Survive they did with Mum and Dad finch busily fussing over their new hatchlings. It was a lovely sight to look in and see three little heads with mouths wide open, looking back at you. Before long they were fledglings and venturing out onto the ledge near their nest and finally out onto a perch.

My story starts one morning at about 8.00am when I was changing their water and food. One of my babies flew straight past my head and out of the cage. I couldn’t believe it! He flew up into the tree above the cage and looked down at me. I approached him thinking that he may be too scared to move, but of course he flew away over the top of the house. I felt like I could cry. After talking to a neighbor we came to the conclusion that my poor little finch would succumb to either the elements, starve or be a butcher birds lunch.

I went on with the day as usual and came home in the afternoon. By this time my husband Craig was home and while he played with our one year old son, I stole 5 minutes to go in on the computer. Just as I sat down and turned it on I heard a little “chirp chirp” in the tree which is near the window and couldn’t believe my eyes when there sat my baby finch. I immediately ran out the back of the house where my cage is and lone behold, there sitting above the cage in the tree was the finch. Mum and Dad finch were going crazy as they called out to their baby.

Craig and I then spent the next two to three hours desperately trying to catch the bird. He wanted so much to get back in the cage and was obviously tired. We tried everything to catch him. In this time he had flown over the other side of the house and back again. He sat on our next door neighbors roof and sang out to his Mum, Dad and brothers and sisters. I never would have believed the bond they have with their family unit unless I had seen it myself.

We had gotten to the stage of giving up, just before dark, when the finch had one last try to get into the cage. I have a matchstick blind which I altered to go around the back and one side of the cage for protection, and the finch got himself caught in between the blind and the wire. There he sat with his mum, dad and brother and sister all sitting on the other side of the wire madly chirping excitedly. I gently picked him up and put in the cage. You could almost see the relief on that little birds face. He had been out in the big wide world all day.

Some may say it was just luck that our little bird found his way home but we truly believe it was our little miracle.

We get so much enjoyment out of our aviary and every morning when the Finch Family wake up and start their beautiful singing it really does put a smile on our faces.

Article © Craig & Megan Ashman 2003