Finches kept as companion birds including zebra finches, Bengalese finches, and canaries have specific social, dietary, and environmental needs that are frequently misunderstood by owners.
Finch welfare suffers from widespread misunderstanding of their social nature and space requirements. Zebra finches, being obligately social birds, suffer significantly when kept alone: they vocalise persistently seeking contact, develop feather destruction or over-preening, and show elevated stress indicators. The minimum welfare provision should be a compatible pair. Cage size is another chronic welfare issue: most commercially available 'finch cages' are far below the space needed for adequate flight exercise. Finches should be able to fly several body lengths between perches; a cage allowing only hopping between perches denies a primary locomotor behaviour. Dietary variety is important particularly during breeding: seed-only fed finches are nutritionally compromised, producing smaller eggs and chicks with poorer survival. The extreme sensitivity to airborne toxins means kitchen environments with non-stick cookware are dangerous; even small amounts of Teflon released during overheating can be rapidly fatal.