Fresh herbs can be a nice snack for a Finster. At least, you'd think so.

But Finsters can be very picky about the foods they eat. My four original birds, Mr. Finster, Mrs. Finster, Finster Girl and Little Naked Finster Buddy, liked to nibble daintily from a basil plant growing in their cage. But that plant was torn to shreds in a matter of days when I introduced Biker Chick, Bambi, Tea and Chocolate to the family. Not because the new birds were hungry, but because they were building nests.

My current Finsters occasionally nibble on herbs, but seem to prefer eating lettuce leaves that are at least ten times their size. Instead, like my second group of Finsters, they mostly think herbs are good for building nests. Especially when it comes to dill.

Although the occasional small sprig of dill makes it into a nest box, the favorite pieces are about ten inches long, unwieldy, impossible to get into a nest box, and probably heavier than the birds are. The bigger the sprig, the better the mating aid. It's really fun to watch!

This picture shows Ginger, being surprisingly calm while I had the door open to take it.