Gouldian Finch
Australian, and coloured like nothing else in the finch world. The head comes in black, red or yellow, and the colour is inherited rather than acquired.
Overview
The Gouldian finch is the most spectacular finch kept, and its wild story is bleaker than its plumage suggests. It once ranged across the tropical savannas of northern Australia and is now confined to isolated pockets in the Top End and the Kimberley, listed as Endangered in Australia.
Every Gouldian in the pet trade is captive bred, and has been for decades. It comes in three head colours, black, red and yellow, and the difference is genetic rather than cosmetic: black is the most common, red next, and yellow is very rare.
Temperament
Quiet, delicate and strictly hands off. Gouldians are among the least robust finches kept and they do not tolerate disturbance well.
The head colour is not just colour. Red headed birds are more aggressive in competitive settings, less parental, and show a heightened stress response compared to black headed birds, and the trait has been traced to variation near the follistatin gene. Mixing morphs in a small cage puts a red headed bird in charge of the food.
Care and grooming
A quality finch mix with a high proportion of small seeds, plus greens, egg food and live food when rearing. They are more demanding nutritionally than zebra or society finches and less forgiving of gaps.
They moult heavily and it takes a lot out of them, and warmth through the moult matters. Gouldians are also more sensitive to cold and to air sac mite than the hardier finches, which is the main reason they are recommended to people who have kept finches before.
Living and exercise
30 by 18 by 18 inches for a pair, planted, warm, and out of draughts. They want more heat than most finches, and a room that suits a zebra finch may be several degrees too cold for these.
Many breeders foster Gouldian eggs under society finches, which are reliable parents, because Gouldians are not always. It works, and it is worth knowing that a bird sold as parent raised and one sold as fostered have had different first weeks.
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