Finch calls and songs
Sounds made by different species
Are you thinking about keeping finches indoors, close to your living room or bedroom? An important consideration is how much noise the different species make.
On this page you'll find a guide to how loud, quiet or melodious are the calls and songs of various finch species. Use it to help choose a finch collection that will be right for you. You can even play sound clips!
Already got finches? Please contribute to this guide. Submit missing information and sound clips here.
On this page
Legend
SpeciesNames by which species are commonly known.
Calls…
FrequencyPercentage of waking hours spent calling.
VolumeAverage loudness.
PleasantnessWhether calls are easy on the ear, or grating.
Listen to sound clips of finch calls.
Song…
MusicalityWhether songs have a melodious quality.
Listen to sound clips of finch songs.
| Species | Calls | Song | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency | Volume | Pleasantness | Musicality | ||||
| Avadavat, Green Green Strawberry Finch |
20% | Loud | Neutral | Musical | |||
| Avadavat, Strawberry Strawberry Finch |
20% | Loud | Neutral | Musical | |||
| Black Rumped Waxbill |
40% | Neutral | |||||
| Canary | 60% | Loud | Neutral | Musical | |||
| Cordon Bleu Waxbill, Blue Capped |
30% | Medium | Neutral | Musical | |||
| Cordon Bleu Waxbill, Red Cheeked |
30% | Medium | Neutral |
|
Musical | ||
| Crimson Finch | Medium | ||||||
| Cuban Melodious Finch Cuban Grassquit Cuban Finch |
60% | Medium | Neutral | Musical | |||
| Cut Throat Finch | 30% | Loud | Neutral | Non-musical |
|
||
| Diamond Sparrow Firetail Finch |
|||||||
| European Goldfinch | 30% | Medium | Neutral | Musical |
|
||
| Firefinch, Red-billed Ruddy |
5% | Quiet | Neutral | Rare/no song | |||
| Golden Song Sparrow |
80% | Loud | Harsh | Non-musical | |||
| Gouldian Finch Lady Gouldian Finch |
20% | Quiet | Pleasant |
|
Musical |
|
|
| Greenfinch | Neutral | ||||||
| Grenadier Weaver | 30% | ||||||
| Green Singer Grey Singer |
70% | Loud | Pleasant | Musical | |||
| Jacarini Finch Blue-backed Grassquit |
5% | Quiet | Pleasant | ||||
| Java Finch Java Sparrow |
50% | Medium | Neutral | Musical | |||
| Lavender Waxbill | 20% | Quiet | Neutral | Musical | |||
| Longtail Grassfinch Shaftail Grassfinch |
60% | Medium | Harsh |
|
Musical |
|
|
| Masked Grassfinch | 60% | Medium | Neutral | Non-musical | |||
| Melba Finch Green-winged Pytilia |
40% | Quiet | Neutral | ||||
| Munia Nun Mannikin Pictorella |
10% | Quiet | Neutral |
|
Non-musical |
|
|
| Orange Breasted Waxbill Goldbreast |
30% | Quiet | Pleasant | Musical | |||
| Orange Cheeked Waxbill |
80% | Medium | Harsh | Non-musical | |||
| Owl Finch | 90% | Medium | Neutral |
|
Non-musical |
|
|
| Painted Firetail | 50% | Medium | Neutral | ||||
| Parrot Finch, Blue Faced |
Medium | ||||||
| Parrot Finch, Peales |
|||||||
| Parrot Finch, Pin-tailed |
|||||||
| Parrot Finch, Red-headed |
30% | Medium | Neutral | Non-musical | |||
| Parrot Finch, Tri-colour Parrot Finch, Forbes |
20% | Quiet | Neutral | Non-musical | |||
| Parson's Finch Black Throated Finch |
50% | Medium | Neutral | Non-musical | |||
| Plumheaded Cherry Finch |
10% | Quiet | |||||
| Silverbill | 80% | Medium | Musical | ||||
| Siskins | Medium | Pleasant | Musical |
|
|||
| Society Finch Bengalese Finch |
90% | Loud | Neutral |
|
Non-musical |
|
|
| Spice Finch | 20% | Medium | Neutral |
|
Non-musical |
|
|
| Star Finch | 90% | Medium | Neutral | Non-musical |
|
||
| Swee Waxbill | 20% | Loud | Neutral | ||||
| Twinspot, Dybowski |
|||||||
| Twinspot, Green | Neutral | Musical | |||||
| Zebra Finch | 90% | Medium | Neutral |
|
Non-musical |
|
|
Finch species for a quiet aviary
Firefinches
Gouldian Finches
Jacarinis (Note that they may call quietly at night)
Melba Finches
Munias
Lavender Waxbills
Orange Breasted Waxbills
Tricolour Parrot Finches
Finch species for a singing aviary
Avadavats
Canaries
Cordon Bleu Waxbills
Cuban Melodious Finches
European Goldfinches
Grey / Green Singers
Java Finches
Longtail Grassfinches
Silverbills
Siskins
Green Twinspots
Finch species for a raucous aviary
Canaries
Golden Song Sparrows
Grey / Green Singers
Society Finches
Finch Vocalisations Guide
This page updates Finch Stuff's popular Finch Vocalisations Guide.
How loud is loud?
Even the loudest finch is quieter than the quietest parrot. With few exceptions, finches are quiet birds.
However, when finches are breeding, babies in the nest call to their parents to be fed. This can raise the volume quite a lot.
Books about songbirds
Click the images to buy the books.
Garden Bird Songs and Calls
Geoff Sample
Where Song Began
Tim Low
Canary Crazy
Robirda McDonald
The Canary
Diane Grindol
Give us your input!
This table is not complete. Please help to fill in the missing data by telling us about the sounds made by finches you keep.
We also need sound clips. Record your birds calling or singing, and we'll add your sound clips to the chart.
Please submit your information and sound files here.
Thanks to these people for contributing to this guide
Stephanie T
Christine F
Tammie B
Donna
Sena
Heidi H