Apart from its obvious beautiful contrasting plumage the Cuban's bubbly, active and inquisitive nature makes it a real likeable character in the aviary.  Combine this with their pleasant little tinkling song and you have beautiful little bird which is a real pleasure to observe in the aviary.  Whilst in Australian avicultural circles we all know this little avian gem as the Cuban Finch, it is in fact a Grassquit, as is the Jacarini (Blue-black Grassquit) which is also well known to Australian finch breeders.  Grassquits are a group of species from South and Central America from the Emberizidae family with close taxonomic links to tanagers and cardinals.

Detailed information on the Cuban's wild status, distribution and habitat is very thin on the ground in Australian avicultural knowledge and literature compared to many other species equivalently common in our finch collections.   Accordingly I have recently delved as best I can into all available sources on the internet and on paper in order to improve my own understanding of the species' wild situation.  As the name obviously suggests, the Cuban's natural range includes Cuba, but also The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Islands.  It inhabits most available habitats within its range but is especially prevalent in and around lowland forest and shrubland and adjoining cultivated areas including human settlements.  Earlier published material suggests that the species was common in the past but more recent accounts describe its status as uncommon (Stotz et al 1996).  Other recent studies show the species to be in decline with significant population decreases recorded near human settlements (Garrido & Kirkconnell 2000).  A recent Cuban online newspaper article in April 2008 reports that the Cuban Ministry of Science Technology and the Environment is sufficiently concerned at the decline of the species that they are making special efforts to increase information about its plight to schools and other public forums.  This report quotes: 

".... it has been proved by some polls made in mountainous communities of La Palma, which revealed capture levels of 60 percent, mainly by children who are unaware of the danger these birds are exposed to." 

This report goes on to say that other trappers are exploiting the bird's natural tameness to easily catch numbers of them for the caged bird trade.

Given the restricted natural range and the obvious recent decline in its wild population it is hoped that the Cuban authorities will soon provide greater protection by banning the trapping of wild birds which seems from most reports to be the single greatest contributor to its now more vulnerable status. 

Cubans are commonly kept and bred in Australian aviaries, which is very different to many other parts of the world where they are generally not so common in captivity.  There has been much talk in recent times regarding a recent surge in exporting of aviary-bred exotic finches from Australia and Cubans have been at the forefront of this trade.  This has been occurring for many years, however with the bird flu scare a few years ago and a corresponding halt to large scale importing of wild finches from Africa, Asia and elsewhere to Europe, UK and North America, a recent surge in demand for available captive-bred finches has been the result to satisfy these distant markets.  I can vividly recall reports from the mid to late 1970s when the species had all but died out in captivity in South Africa so birds were sought from Australia and shortly thereafter the recipients were regularly breeding Cubans again.  I believe they are now well established in South Africa due to the Australian stock sent over 30 years ago plus some additional consignments in the meantime.  There have also been moderate numbers of Cubans sent from Australia to New Zealand and other countries spasmodically over the past 20 years or so.  The recent spike in exports has aroused much discussion on the possible future threat to the genetic viability of our captive stocks of the heavily traded species such as Cubans.  Whilst this is a very real possibility if Australian finch breeders do nothing in the face of an eroding gene pool, I believe that the best way we can avert any significant negative consequences of this trade is to retain an extra pair or two of the affected species to breed more of them and to dispose of your surplus birds mostly to other breeders in preference to dealers. 

One of their alternate common names is Cuban Melodious Finch which highlights that they have a pleasant whistle. This is not an elaborate trill as in canaries and other serinus and carduelis finch species. Their song is more a pleasant little tinkling tune of high-pitched swiftly-delivered rolling chatter. In 1972, Baptista carried out a detailed study of the Cuban's song and identified territorial, courtship and duet components to their song. The male is the sole exponent of the territorial and courtship song. As the name implies the female takes a supporting role in the duet singing which is used to reinforce pair bonds and I have also sometimes observed the duet singing as part of the courtship ritual, mostly with recently formed pairs. Established pairs often skip the duet singing as part of the mating ritual but still often perform it as they greet after the hen emerges from the nest from a shift of incubating eggs or brooding young. Indeed the Cuban pair bond is very tight and the pair will often spend some quality time sitting on a branch in the sun mutually preening each other.

          Adult male & juvenile                                          Mum, Dad & the kids

The Cuban's temperament is an issue which features prominently in avicultural literature and legend. Certainly much of the worst examples of aggression are the old case of a few bad individuals tarnishing the reputation of the species as a whole. The individual disposition of adult males in particular is highly variable.  Overstocked housing conditions in some aviaries are likely to force some birds into aggressive responses due to the competitive pressures of such an environment.  Most aggression experienced in aviaries is directed toward other Cubans although I know of at least a few instances where aggression has been directed toward other species - most often to predominantly yellow-plumaged species of boisterous nature such as Green Singing Finches and Black-Hooded Yellow Siskins. I once had a mixed finch aviary including Cubans and Crimson Finches (reputed to be one of the most aggressive finches) among others. After feeding some green grass seedheads I stood back to watch the birds eat the seed from them. There was a recently fledged clutch of young Cubans in this aviary at the time and one of these was among the first to come to the offering. The male Crimson Finch, who was accustomed to imposing his authority in competitive situations, perched near the grass heads and with wings raised cleared away his competition including the young Cuban. The adult male Cuban saw this and immediately towelled up the Crimson Finch with the most intense two seconds of violence I have ever witnessed in a finch aviary. This did no noticeable physical harm to Crimson Finch however I'm sure if the Cuban wished to he could have killed him on the spot, but this was just a warning that the male Cuban would not stand for any bird harming his brood. In the months that followed, whenever a young Cuban landed anywhere near the male Crimson Finch he would quickly flee in fright - very amusing to see and if I hadn't witnessed the first incident I would have been very confused by these later events. Suffice to say that when a male Cuban chooses to assert his physical dominance there is no greater scrapper gram-for-gram in the finch world.

Aggression is mostly between mature male Cubans or a dominant male and his own young sons as they mature enough to show some black feathers. I have noticed a high degree of variation in temperament with Cubans and this is very directly passed onto offspring either genetically or through learning from the father or a combination of both. This is best demonstrated by two of my recent breeding pairs of Cubans. With one of these pairs the young were hounded & driven away by the adult male at a very early stage - when the young were barely feeding themselves. If at the first signs of this aggression I didn't act and remove the young from the breeding aviary the father would kill them within two days of starting to chase them. I had been too slow a couple of times with this pair & found dead young birds with no feathers left on the head and the skin pecked red-raw. Any young males which I retained as breeders from this pair displayed similar aggressive behaviour toward their own young. The other pair were model aviary citizens with the adults tolerating young left in the breeding aviary until fully-coloured without any fuss at all. Significantly, young males retained for breeding from this pair have exhibited the same passive temperament as their parents. Therefore a crucial recommendation is to purchase birds for breeding (especially males) from breeders with distinctly placid Cubans. I know of one breeder who has sufficiently passive Cubans that he houses them as breeding colonies of several pairs, albeit in very large planted aviaries which are lightly stocked. However, I wouldn't generally recommend this for Cubans. In fact, I don't even recommend keeping pairs of Cubans in adjoining aviaries where mesh partitions separate them otherwise males may persistently fight through the wire. The aggression shown between many adult male Cubans led to the common practice in Cuba many years ago of organised fights with onlookers betting on which bird will survive, similar to cock fights using roosters which are still operated in some countries. Bearing in mind the typically aggressive response between adult male Cubans great care is needed when housing spare adult birds in holding aviaries and when transporting them in the confines of a carry box - multiple holding aviaries and carry box compartments are the way to be sure of harmony. Having said all this if you make an effort to obtain males from passive strains of Cubans and endeavour to avoid over-crowded stocking of your aviaries these possible negative consequences should be deemed irrelevant.

Cubans are very adaptable to various aviary conditions. They are best suited to aviaries and are definitely not suited to long-term housing in small cages or breeding cabinets.  Being such active birds, confining them to too small an area will definitely reduce their quality of life and exacerbate aggressive behaviour.  Whilst cage-breeding is certainly achievable, they display their beauty and behaviour best in outdoor aviaries which receive some direct sunlight.  I especially enjoy breeding and observing Cubans in large planted outdoor aviaries. As with any finch species, the best aviaries are those which are as warm and as dry as local conditions will allow.

Meeting the Cuban's dietary needs is made easier by the fact that they are among the most omnivorous finch species. They will readily enjoy a wide variety of seeds in various forms (dry, sprouted and especially half-ripe), live insects, fruits, vegetables (mostly green and leafy types), and various man-made processed recipes such as finch softfood powders, cake and egg & biscuit mixes. The fact that Cubans will take such a wide variety of foods highlights that they are a very adaptable species. They can be maintained and even sometimes breed in collections where only a very basic diet is provided, however if you wish to have happier and healthier Cubans which achieve consistently productive breeding outcomes, a varied diet comprising consistent regular supplies of live insects (termites and/or maggots and/or mealworms) and green foods (especially half-ripe grass seedheads and/or sprouted seed) should be provided.

The basics which I provide to maintain non-breeding birds are a good quality dry seed mix (I use 2 parts red pannicum and 1 part each of plain canary, white-french and jap millet), fine shell grit, and clean fresh water. My breeding birds are given an expanded variety of food items. Daily offerings of live termites, half-ripe and sprouted seeds, Lebanese cucumber, and wider variety of natural mineral supplements including cuttlebone and eggshells are provided. My breeding birds also receive a diverse mix of pasture grass seeds and a small dish of red pannicum which has been supplemented with oil-based vitamins.

Cubans will show a willingness to breed at any time of the year if their diet and aviary conditions are adequate. This should not be used as an excuse to breed them into the ground by encouraging breeding pairs to do so continuously from one year to the next until their inevitable untimely early demise. Enforcing a break from breeding activities for a couple of months each year significantly prolongs the useful breeding life of breeding birds and gives far greater consistency to each successive season's breeding results. This non-breeding period is best achieved by withdrawing nesting sites and materials and feeding only a basic diet not containing the richer rearing foods. This is best carried out in Winter in cool regions or Summer in mild/warm regions to avoid the stresses of parenthood at the most stressful time of year. When the essentials for breeding are restored after the austerity period, the pairs are immediately stimulated back into breeding activity reinvigorated by their rest.

Their breeding biology is somewhat different to estrildid finch species (most African, Asian and Australian finches).

The full courtship ritual is often only performed by new pairs. It involves duet singing by both sexes (but predominantly the male), the male courtship feeding the female, and when ready to mate the female will crouch low lifting her head and tail to solicit copulation from the male. Established pairs often skip some or all of the full ritual and get straight down to business perhaps with just with a brief song and/or courtship feeding prior to mating (You don't bring me flowers any more).

Both sexes actively construct the nest using predominantly short, fine and fluffy nesting materials which are bundled together in their bills before carrying them to the nest site. Fine grasses, feathers, coconut fibre, short lengths of hessian, plumber's hemp, cotton waste, kapok, and pure cotton wool are all suitable nesting materials. It is important to ensure sufficient strong fibrous materials such as coconut fibre are given to maintain the nest's structural integrity. If only the soft and fluffy materials are provided the nest may partially collapse during the course of the incubation and rearing period. Dried branches placed in dense bunches around the aviary walls or in suspended mesh cylinders are the preferred nest sites, however they will sometimes also use growing shrubs, grass tussocks, wire mesh nest receptacles or enclosed cane nest baskets.

The typical clutch size is between two and four eggs which are white with small rufous-brown spots concentrated at the wider end of the egg. The hen alone incubates the eggs and broods the young for the first half of their pre-fledging period. The hen sits very lightly - as any human approaches the aviary the male will sing an alarm call upon which the hen will hastily vacate the nest as inconspicuously as possible. Incubation lasts 13 days and the young generally fledge at around 18 to 20 days after hatching. Up until fledging, both parents carry out nest-hygiene, taking the young's faecal sac away from the nest after feeding the young. As a result, the used nest is totally clean & may be reused for several successive clutches. Aviculturists should consider that allowing this to go on regularly may increase the chances of feather mites or other external parasites affecting juvenile plumage (and comfort) so removing old nests may help minimise this. Immature young have pale skin, no down and distinctive narrow & elongated white gape fluorescence. Upon fledging their plumage resembles a slightly duller version of the adult female.

         Fledgling                                                         Father, daughter & son (l to r)

The method of feeding dependent young is more like that of canaries rather than the estrildid finches. Regurgitated food is presented from the end of the adult's bill and placed into the juvenile's open beak one blob at a time as opposed to the typical estrildid method of parent & young locking bills and pumping regurgitated food straight from one to the other. It is impossible to conclusively determine given the enclosed nest, but it is a possibility that the male may feed the incubating and brooding hen on the nest. I raise this possibility simply due to the known occurrence of this in other bird species where the female carries out all incubation and brooding duties.

Given the long period of domestication of Cubans over a large number of generations it is surprising that there have been no established colour mutations in Australian aviaries. There is some natural variation evident in the area and intensity of the yellow collar on both sexes and the black chest and belly areas on males. I once bred a male which matured into an acquired yellow pied colour with the area and intensity of the pied markings increasing with age. This bird was given to a friend who bred from him for a season or two but only produced young with normal Cuban colouration devoid of any noticeable pied markings. I have also purchased young Cubans from a bloke who claimed to have a black mutation. The young males of these were definitely enhanced with black over the entire front of the body, even transposing itself over the yellow collar area. These birds came from very crowded conditions and once I put them into lightly stocked aviaries with a varied diet, they soon lost the extra black from their plumage and returned to normal Cuban colouration. This indicated that they originally displayed induced melanism as a result of the sub-standard conditions in which they were raised.

Most Cubans exhibit a unique combination of behavioural features which strongly endear them to their human keepers. They are continually active, highly inquisitive and their inherent boldness for such a small creature translates to a degree of tameness not often found in other finch species. When these desirable features are combined with the eye-catching physical beauty of the male's starkly contrasting black and yellow plumage it is no surprise that they are a very popular species in Australian aviaries.