Goudian Finch

Family: Finch

Origin: Northern Western Australia, eastward through northern Australia to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Size: Length 140mm

Description:

The wings and back of the male are green, the rump and the upper tail coverts are blue with a long, black tail.

The crown and ear coverts are a choice of black, red or yellow. The chin and throat is black with a lilac breast and a yellow belly. The eyes are dark brown and the beak is ivory with red tips and the legs are yellow – it’s a stunning looking bird with its coat of many colours.

The colouring of the female is duller than the male and its beak also turns black during the breeding season.

Care:

In the wild these stunning birds nest in hollow branches of trees. If living in an aviary they need to be supplied with nesting boxes or have wire rests placed at differing levels. Plenty of thin perches and branches of non-poisonous trees need to be given for the birds to roost in or to chew if the desire strikes.

The aviary must be kept clean and fresh water and good seed, millet sprays, cuttlefish bone, grit and greens need to be provided.

Eats:

A good finch mix, niger, fresh millet sprays, germinated seeds and greens. In the wild the chicks are raised on insects, termites and grass seeds. In captivity they are fed on maggots, fresh ant pupae, egg food and small mealworms.

In the summer they love to eat summer grasses and the seeding heads of rye grass. Grit consisting of one third cuttlefish bone, one third charcoal and one third baked egg shell ground to a fine powder is eaten and often used to take a “dust bath”.

Features:

Each mated pair of adult birds raise two to three broods in a breeding season and both parents incubate and feed the chicks once hatched.

Call:

An almost inaudible high-pitched hiss, and whines interspersed with clucking sounds.

Personality:

Many bird lovers and bird watchers often refer to this as the most beautiful of all Australian finches. It’s also a very sociable bird.