Common Name	Dybowski's Twinspot
Latin Name	Euschsitospiza dybowskii
Average Lifespan	10 Years
Average Length	4.5 Inches
Average Weight	13 Grams
Song Type	Pleasant

Noise Level & Vocalization

Physical Features  

Both male and female birds have that eye-catching look to them – grey heads, red mantle and back as well as red upper tail. Their underbelly has white spots on black feathers. The female does have a little browner shade to her wings and the red is slightly duller on the mantle but otherwise, they are very similar.

Aviary Compatibility

If you plan to keep these birds in an aviary, then it is best to have a single pair to the enclosure and to keep away from birds with similar colorings – fire finches are one example of species that don’t seem to mix well with them. On the other hand, other red birds like the Strawberry Finch are reported to get along just fine. Often it depends on the personality of the birds in question. There can also be some male to female aggression, again depending on the bird. As they are African birds, they will need protection from the weather to ensure their survival.

Diet

In the wild, Dybowski’s Twinspots naturally eat insects that they find in their foraging areas. In captivity, they also require live food providing for them but they can be a little greedy with it so it pays to limit their access. They will also take egg food, germinated seeds and half ripe seeds in addition to a good quality foreign finch mix. Fresh foods such as apple, broccoli and kale can also be offered.

Care

Dybowski’s Twinspots love a bit of dense thicket and the cage should be big enough to get one corner decorated with either artificial plants or cuttings (as our birds prefer the cuttings, we went for them but it may not be so easy for folks living in a big city to get hold of suitable plants). The birds like cover and highly appreciate to take their nap well hidden in this thicket. Another benefit is that the birds get quite tame when they can retrieve to what for them is safety … dense cover. In structured aviaries or cages they never act wild and shy, this was even more important for birds imported from Africa but it has to be said that even birds born in deprived conditions will highly benefit from it. These little shelters, which provide a viable structure for the birds serve as hide and escape; not only for other species housed together with the slightly dominant Dybowskis; they also help fledglings or the female to escape and search shelter from an aggressive male. Another big advantage is that the individuals are not always visually present and it is very likely that this helps to reduce aggressive actions significantly.

Housing

Breeding Information

Age of Maturity	1 Year
Breeding Aviculture	Uncommon
Average Clutch Size	3 - 7 Eggs
Nest Box
Breeding Life

Like many of the family, these finches like to use materials such as coconut fibre and grasses to build their nest. They may use finch nest boxes but prefer to build their own nest in vegetation with plants such as conifer or pine resembling their natural environment enough to be utilised. Some nest on the ground while others prefer higher locations and the nest is a sturdy construction.

Three to seven eggs are laid and the female does most of the incubating. The chicks hatch at around two weeks and are very dark in colouring. Live foods and egg food are the primary raising foods and both parents do the job. The chicks fledge at around 17-21 days old and stay near the nest at first. By around four weeks, they should be weaned and then removed from their parents to avoid aggression.

​Vital and dominant males can be easily identified looking carefully at the color of the red eye ring. An intense red eye ring is an indicator of a healthy and dominant individual, whereas a very pale eye ring is often an indicator for health problems or when several males are kept together in the same aviary for a low-ranking male. When females have the chance to choose their mate, they usually go for the males with intense red eye rings. The eye-ring of females is generally lighter colored but can also be seen as a fitness indicator. Just that we have to view it on a different scale …means we can’t compare the color of male and females but when compared with their own sex again the most colorful one is the most dominant female.

Wild Status

Stable - Least Concern