n the wild, where zebra finches breed in small colonies, both the
cock and the hen help to build the nest. After a short ceremony, which includes a dance of courtship, the cock collects the material and the hen forms it into a nest. The typical nest is spherical with a very small entrance hole and is located in dense, thorny bushes. Obviously it is difficult to simulate this form of nest when cage breeding as we usually provide only one nest and offer no choice of the breeding pair. However, we are fortunate that zebra finches can be very accommodating