Real Finches in a Magic Land

1
Featherweatherland

• Real Finches in a Magic Land

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Sensei, Are We Adopted?

• A Featherweatherland story as told by Ichiro (A
  Society Finch)
• Well, we weren't really surprised when Jo-Ren
  Sensei said that each and every one of us is
  adopted. All you have to do is look at us! Each
  of us looks so different from one another.
  Further, we are different species as well. Our
  sizes range from kinda big (for an itty bitty
  Finch) to teeny weeny.

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• Henry is actually the biggest one because his
  feathers are weirdly wide and his tail spreads
  out into a Japanese fan shape.  We talked it over
  and we have never seen a Finch with such wide
  feathers! We weren't even sure he was a Finch
  until he started singing. Then, of course, we
  knew he was a Zebra Finch.

4

• The males have fun songs and they stretch their
  necks way up and puff up so that the ladies can
  see how handsome they are. That's when Henry
  looks huge about the size of a small canary.
  Then, when he "deflates," he looks just like the
  usual Finch in size, if not feathers. Even with
  Henry, you can take any one of us and put us in
  your hand, close your hand, and then no one can
  see us because we are so tiny.

5

• I am a Society Finch. My song is the longest and
  the most beautiful of all the finches in the big
  flight cage you recently got for us. My song is a
  lot like a combination of a canary and a Silver
  Beak Finch. No one seems jealous of my voice
  because each of us has a special song that
  attracts the kind of Finch we can have a family
  with. The females go to the songs of their
  species so it is a good thing we don't all sound
  alike!

6

• It isn't our colors that matter as Finches. It is
  our songs, and our puffing up, that make the
  ladies smile. I have these funny colors on me I
  am basically brown but I look as if someone
  tossed specks of paint onto my body and didn't
  care if the colors matched or not. Maybe that is
  why I have such a wonderful song.

7

• Some people think I am funny looking, too. But,
  at least I don't hop up and down and up and down
  like the Bronze Wing Finch when I sing! What if
  he falls off his perch with all that bouncing
  during mating season?

8

• We were sure glad you told us we are adopted.
  That must mean that we are very special. We also
  know that you only take finches you see at the
  store that no one seems to want because of how
  they look. Or you pick the ones that are pecked
  by other birds until they resemble teeny weeny
  vultures or worse.

9

• Two of us were given to you because no one wanted
  to take the time to help us stay healthy and safe
  while we were healing and our feathers were
  re-growing. It sure takes a long time, months,
  before our feathers are back completely and we
  can relax.

10

• We don't fight to see who can sit on the eggs
  because we all want to help. We remember Zeke.
  Poor Zeke! He sat on Zebra Finch eggs when we had
  a female in the cage and then the parents of the
  eggs sat on Zeke and then poor Zeke died, flatter
  than a pancake. Poor Zeke! He had a Buddhist
  funeral and memorial service after you finally
  found him under Pansy and Josh. 

11

• Pansy now lives at Donna Nakamura's house because
  she is a girl and a breeder and there were lots
  and lots of eggs. Zeke was a Society Finch and
  they are famous for sitting on the eggs of other
  kinds of Finches. They are great egg sitters and
  you can put any Finch egg under them and they
  will babysit.

12

• You also told us some great information about
  Finches. For example, all our different species
  are from Australia (Do we have an accent?) We are
  the easiest of finches to maintain because we
  have no special needs nor restrictions. Australia
  is a "rough and tough" country and so we are
  strong and not finicky.

13

• Finches from Japan are delicate. The Gouldian
  Finches are hard to take care of, too, because of
  temperature control with no breezes and such.
  Those Gouldian finches come in the most beautiful
  colors. They look like splendid tiny parrots with
  their greens, reds, bright blues and reds.

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• We are also glad that you think we are the best
  kind of Finches in the world Those that needed a
  home and liked harmony. We are clean, too,
  because we take a bath twice a day in the nice
  clean water you fix for us. Sorry we get so
  excited that you get splashed all the way over to
  your desk! We love you so much for loving us.
  Thank you Jo-Ren Sensei for our wonderful lives.
• Namo Amida Butsu
• Ichiro
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