The goldfinch is a small bird of the finches family, very popular with lovers of indoor birds. This popularity is well-deserved. Goldfinches at home sing almost all year round, delight their owners with colorful smart clothes, surprise with intelligence and friendliness.
Goldfinch at home can easily master a variety of tricks(dexterously pulls out fortune-telling tickets, obediently flies off for food on his hand). melodic singing goldfinch males can easily compete with the beauty of sounding. And if your feathered pet loudly and cheerfully displays more than 20 different trills, it means that he has excellent health and excellent mood. Only during the molting period, these birds do not sing.
Goldfinches to a greater extent adapted to the conditions of the Russian climate in comparison with parrots or canaries. Their main habitats in nature are the European part Russian Federation, Caucasus, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia.
Appearance
The goldfinch is much smaller than the sparrow. The body of this bird reaches a length of about 12 cm, the weight of the bird is about 20 g.
plumage of adult birds bright and colorful. The tail, wings and top of the head are black in color. The forehead, cheeks, abdomen and upper part of the tail are white, around the beak there is a wide red ring, the wings are decorated with a bright yellow stripe. Juvenile goldfinches do not have a red ring around the bill. The females of this species are smaller than the males and have duller plumage.
Goldfinches at home molt. Only with the onset of frost, their plumage becomes dense and acquires a contrasting color.
The grey-headed goldfinch differs slightly from the common goldfinch in plumage color.
Goldfinches quickly get used to life in captivity. The cage for goldfinches living at home should be about 50 cm long, in it in 2 levels perches are installed. The cage is placed in a well-lit place, protected from drafts and direct sunlight.
Goldfinches at home are recommended to be kept in cages one by one. Cohabitation of males and females leads to conflicts, which negatively affects the well-being and mood of birds. Males, dejected by everyday troubles, become lethargic, apathetic, stop singing.
Food
Goldfinches should be fed at least 2 times a day in small portions. Needed for feeding grain mixture, which is easy to prepare for the carduelis yourself. To do this, mix equal amounts of oatmeal, seeds of colza, sunflower, pine, spruce, millet, burdock and canary seed.
Good for birds plant food(dandelion, plantain). Animal feed should also be included in the diet of goldfinches kept at home. Optimal would be the use of 3-5 flour worms daily, and in summer period- the same number of fresh ant pupae.
Various porridge diversify the menu of your feathered pets. We recommend preparing a delicacy for goldfinches, which they will definitely like: chop the carrots on a grater, mix it with breadcrumbs, add a finely chopped hard-boiled egg.
In a cage, feathered pets should always have pure water, the drinker should be rinsed daily so that mucus does not accumulate in it.
CHILD LOVE
As far as I can remember, we always had some kind of living creatures: dogs, birds, fish and even mice (white). The presence of animals, the need to care for them taught them responsibility, independence, observation. My brother and I caught birds ourselves. And don't be quick to judge for it. We didn't trade them. But the “hunt” for them brought us closer to nature, broadened our horizons, developed character, and to some extent determined our future fate. My brother graduated from the Fur Institute, I became a geologist.
Why am I writing about this? Love for nature is born from childhood and remains for life. And now, along the window, among indoor plants, there are cages with birds: a canary, a siskin and others, some have lived for several years and are used to it. However, one can hardly get used to captivity, although it is believed that birds at home live longer than in nature.
Each bird has its own character, disposition, and over the years it changes, their behavior also changes. Only the canary remains unchanged. It always holds itself proudly and independently, does not humiliate itself with requests for a treat and does not take it out of hand, as others who are accustomed to a person (owner) do. Yes, and the canary sings almost all year round. We recently had a problem. Someone from the household, taking out the garbage, did not close the door behind him. This was used by a neighbor's cat, left unattended. She ran into a room with birds, attacked a cage with linnet, which began to beat and ended up in the tenacious claws of a predator. It was the best singer after the canary. Now I have neither a trap nor a net. For a new canary, I went to the Bird Market.
And there, near the seller, he met Tatyana Valentinovna Sidoruk, a teacher at school No. 298, and her students, who bought birds for their living corner. They asked me to tell you how to properly keep birds at home. So I thought that my observations would be interesting and useful to other lovers of songbirds.
Freshly caught birds rush around the cage, beat against iron bars and inflict bruises and wounds on themselves, which can lead to death. For the first time, I planted the caught bird in a braided cage (string bag) with a small cell, but from a thick thread, so that the bird would not damage its neck if it managed to stick its head through. He put a braid or string bag on a stool, put a drinking bowl and a jar of food on the floor, inserted perches. You can hang a string bag, and candy or cake boxes will serve as the bottom and ceiling. When the birds get used to it, they can be put in a regular cage, but for some time cover it with a white transparent cloth or gauze. It is desirable to hang drinkers to the wall at a certain height. All birds are very fond of swimming, so in the morning they need to put special bathing suits (in addition to jars for drinking), which are then removed. Birds are attentive to their toilet.
Never miss a morning workout. It is interesting to look at them at this time. Here the bird sits down on one leg, while stretching out the other and the same wing, then vice versa. Then he carefully brushes himself off, passes each feather of the wing through the beak.
In the cage, it is desirable to have another feeder filled with fine clean sand, eggshells and shells, and chalk. It is on the upper feeder that birds like to sit down to crush large or hard grains of hemp, sunflower, melon, if you have not previously crushed them in a mortar or split them in half with tongs. Thinly sliced slices of cucumber, apple, watermelon are conveniently attached with clothespins. We gave the birds grains of apples of southern varieties, and from the apples of our middle zone in the spring, seeds were sown in molehills (emissions of fresh earth by moles) in clearings in the forest, where there is no dense shade. The most common types of food for granivorous are millet, rapeseed, colza, hemp, sunflower, coniferous seeds. Hemp, before giving to birds, must be doused with boiling water, sunflower seeds must be crushed (crushed) with a bottle or in a mortar. Now feed, and birds are not cheap. The way out is to catch birds and prepare food ourselves.
Be sure to give greens (lettuce, cabbage, hard carrots). In winter, you can use tradescantia, germinate oats and other grains (seeds). It is useful to give a boiled egg, cottage cheese (every housewife knows how to cook it at home), bread soaked in milk. Our goldfinch happily ate the bloodworm, served to him with tweezers.
The grain mixture should always be in abundance, do not be afraid that the bird will overeat. But from malnutrition, your pet can die. He becomes lethargic, sits fluffy, often sleeps during the day. Then there comes a moment when he no longer wakes up. And this is a tragedy. One of them. A long time ago, when I did not yet have my own experience in keeping birds and I trusted what was written in books (a teaspoon of grains for the whole day), a goldfinch appeared in the house who did not eat millet. He chose hemp from the grain mixture, something else, but did not touch the millet. I, believing that he was full, did not add additional food to him. As I remember now, when I approached a bird, he went down to the feeder, looked at me, waiting for food, but I, seeing the remaining millet, did not add food. And one morning I saw him at the bottom of the cage. The bird's body was lighter than a fluff. I painfully remember his look with reproach until now, and he will haunt me until the end of my days. Taking a living being into the house, we are responsible for his life.
WHICH BIRD TO CHOOSE?
I will tell you briefly about herbivorous, or rather, granivorous birds, although, strictly speaking, these birds also feed or feed their chicks with caterpillars, midges, mosquitoes. Keeping insectivorous nightingales, flycatchers, warblers, warblers in captivity is only possible for experienced poultry farmers. These birds do not tolerate wintering at home, they need live (or dried) food, mealworms, bloodworms, ant eggs, which are very difficult to get, and not reasonable. And you can watch, for example, tits in the winter from the window, if you hang a feeder (horizontally a milk bag), in the spring in the forest you can listen to the singing of a nightingale, song thrush, etc.
Now about the most common species kept in captivity. Probably the most beloved is the siskin, an inhabitant of coniferous and mixed forests, in nature feeding on the seeds of birch, alder, spruce, buds, as well as insects and their larvae. Chizhik is trusting, quick-witted, unpretentious, quickly gets used to the person who cares for him. His singing is soft and melodic. Old siskins insert verses of other birds into their trills. Siskins, like other birds, love to sing with the musical accompaniment of an orchestra or violin, preferring the piano to other instruments.
The red-headed ratchet is a resident of the northern coniferous forests and forest-tundra, it arrives in autumn and winters here. The bird is quiet, sociable, very mobile, easily gets along in a cage with other species, but, alas, the singer is not very good.
Outwardly, repolov (linnet) is a bit like tap dancing, among which there are excellent singers. And it is no coincidence that they are considered among the best among granivorous songbirds. They live in light forests in large clearings overgrown with shrubs, in parks and gardens. It feeds on seeds of herbaceous plants (burdock, plantain). The bird is very shy, it is difficult to get used to the cage. It must be kept longer than other birds in a curtained cage. Approach it slowly, without making sudden movements. It is desirable to have other birds in the room.
Apparently, the goldfinch should be recognized as the most decorative bird, and one cannot help but like its loud, harmonious singing. Goldfinch lives in small areas of the forest, in deciduous groves, gardens. I had to meet a nest of a goldfinch on a pine tree. It feeds on wastelands, weeds with seeds of weeds (thistle, thistle). Our goldfinch is old and therefore irritable and capricious. When he wants to eat, he sits down to the nearest wall of the cage, crouches, flutters his wings, opens his beak, asking for a treat, like a chick. But when he is full, and I try to give him his favorite seeds, he squeals angrily and tries to pinch his finger. Sometimes he drops a seed, turns in bewilderment from side to side and makes sounds similar in tone to the question: “What happened?” But he does not guess to go down for a grain, not like a siskin or a canary. In our goldfinch, claws on the paws and beak grow faster than in other pets, and its lower half in growth overtakes the upper one. This circumstance played a cruel joke on him (usually I cut off the claws and beak with a sharp razor or scissors). I gave the birds steamed apple seeds, they eat them with great pleasure.
Watching the birds, I became convinced that they, like people, dream: often at night they seem to talk in their sleep. A very quiet chirping is heard, reminiscent of the intermittent murmur of a stream. This is what the voice of a canary sounds like when it refers to its reflection on the wall of a bathing suit.
I told only about some songbirds, about those that can often be found in nature, buy at a pet store. Of these, the most attractive and entertaining is the siskin. But I would advise you to keep a canary at home, she feels quite comfortable in a cage and is happy with that. And the singer is excellent too. And our songbirds better let them live in the wild.
> Goldfinch Birds adapted to Russian conditions, are distinguished by beautiful and melodic singing. At home, they sing all year round, with the exception of the molting period. Singing by the beauty of sound can be compared with the trills of canaries.
The character is friendly towards humans, and the birds themselves are quite smart: they can be taught some tricks: for example, take food from your hand, sit on your hand or shoulder, and so on.
Appearance
The goldfinch is slightly smaller than the sparrow: the height of the bird is up to 12 cm, the weight is about 20 g. The color is bright, variegated with a predominance of gray or beige tones, as well as interspersed with black, red, white and yellow.
Lifespan
In freedom, they live no more than 9 years, in captivity they can live up to 27.
Features of maintenance and care
The cage itself should be with a high tray, because during feeding, the husk from the food eaten scatters in different directions. It should be placed in a well-lit place, without drafts and harmful fumes. UV lamps are required.
It is better to place drinkers and feeders higher so that debris and bird droppings do not get there.
Goldfinches are fed 2 times a day in small portions: in the morning and in the evening. The diet consists of a grain mixture, in which millet, oatmeal, canary seed, sunflower seeds, colza, pine, spruce and burdock are contained in equal proportions.
From plant foods, dandelion and plantain are suitable for them. Birds also need protein food of animal origin daily: the daily norm is about 3-5 flour worms. In the summer, ant pupae are suitable. You can also offer them spiders.
Goldfinches can be fed with any cereals boiled in water without salt and sugar. Favorite delicacy - grated carrots with breadcrumbs and a boiled egg.
Be sure to ensure that every day your pet has clean water, as well as the drinkers and feeders themselves.
If you want the bird to be busy only with itself and not pay any attention to you, hang a mirror in its cage: goldfinches adore it and can look into it endlessly.
Flaws
The joint maintenance of several individuals, due to their nature, can only be in spacious enclosures.
reproduction
Despite the fact that birds in nature live in small flocks, it is necessary to keep females and males in captivity separately: in cages, unlike aviaries, they are quite aggressive towards each other. Under such conditions, males stop singing, lethargy and apathy appear in their character and behavior.
Clutch of about 4-5 eggs, the color of which can be blue, greenish and gray shades. Sometimes the shell has red blotches. The female incubates the chicks for about 2 weeks, and after hatching, the same number of chicks are in the nest. After leaving the nest, the "parents" feed the "children" for a short time.
How to choose
You can catch the goldfinch yourself or buy it in a nursery. Of course, you can choose, but the nursery is preferable for beginner poultry farmers: due to the fact that the chicks are fed by humans, they adapt better in captivity and get used to the owner.
When choosing a bird, pay attention to the plumage: it should be sleek, smooth, without bald patches. The paws and eyes of the bird must be free of defects. Litter - in the form of formed sausages; the opposite "picture" means that the goldfinch was not properly fed and he has an indigestion.
The goldfinch is a songbird. It has long been popular with nature lovers. It is interesting to observe him in natural conditions. The goldfinch is distinguished by bright plumage and melodic sounds that publishes. His repertoire includes over twenty different melodies. In the spirit of a real bird star, he is ready to continue his show every day.
Characteristic
Appearance
A real dandy, a dandy among small birds. The miniature size is more than compensated by the colorfulness of the feathers. The light belly is shaded by brown sides and a brown back. The feathers are black at the base with bright yellow tips. The head is scarlet. Saturated colors focus on the appearance of a nimble little bird.
Goldfinches belong to the finches family. The size is inferior to ordinary sparrows. Body length up to 12 cm, wingspan 20–25 cm. Weight only 20–25 grams. The body is rounded, dense. Feathers are thick. Plumage color varies with representatives different types .
Species diversity:
Gallery: black-headed goldfinch bird (25 photos)
Habitat
Favorite nesting places for birds are light forests, light groves, parks, squares, plantings. Their flocks can be found on overgrown wastelands, in floodplains of rivers or orchards. Goldfinches prefer well-lit places and do not favor gloomy dense thickets.
The long thin beak is equally useful for catching insects and pulling out seeds from dried inflorescences. Goldfinches prefer plant foods. They feed on seeds of wild and cultivated plants, nibbling young grass in spring. Burdock, thistle, burdock are especially fond of them. The availability of food almost all year round affected the attachment of goldfinches to habitats. However, there is no unambiguous answer to the question: is a goldfinch a migratory bird or not.
In most cases, goldfinches do not leave their habitat. Only certain types fly away for the winter to warm countries. As a rule, females are engaged in flights, and males winter in their native lands. For wintering, migratory goldfinches choose the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and Central Asia. Thus, part of the goldfinches migratory birds, and some are not.
Mating season and reproduction
The reproduction of birds directly depends on their habitat: the more north the region of residence, the later mating season. At the end of winter, goldfinches begin to group in flocks (over 40 individuals). Together they make short flights in search of food. With the advent of heat, pairs are determined inside the flock, which begin to independently look for places for future nesting.
Nest building takes place in May. The ideal place for the construction is long horizontal branches of trees, equidistant from the top of the tree and the ground. Like other finches, the black-headed goldfinch is an excellent builder. The nest is of regular shape, with sloping edges and a deepened center. The inner part is lined with thin stems of plants, moss, lichen. The outer walls almost merge with the bark of the tree. Finding the nest is not easy. Excellent disguise– protection from uninvited guests : predators, snakes or humans.
To give out the location of the bird's dwelling, the boastful behavior of the male can. He loves to perch on top of a tree above his nest and sing. At this moment, he resembles a real artist - he makes all kinds of body movements, chirps, bows. But his performance is intended only for one viewer - the female. She responds to the call and the couple ends the concert together.
The female lays 4-6 small eggs at a time in the nest. The average length is only 1.6–1.8 cm. The color varies depending on the species of the parents. By color, goldfinch eggs can be:
- Greenish.
- Blue.
- White with red dots.
The chicks hatch in two weeks. In the first weeks of life, the chicks behave like insectivorous individuals. Their parents constantly feed them leafy aphids. Thus, saving plantings from harmful insects. Gradually, the kids switch to vegetable food and begin to eat seeds, like adult goldfinches.
Bird couples living in the southern regions manage to raise 2 broods of chicks during the season. Grown up chicks leave the parental nest, but at first they prefer to settle nearby. And only in autumn gathering in flocks with the same young birds and fly to another place.
Home keeping conditions
Arrangement of the cell
With their singing and bright plumage, goldfinches have long attracted the attention of people. Lovers of melodic trills specially caught forest dandies and settled at home. It turned out that the bird has another important advantage. The goldfinch quickly gets used to captivity and adapts to life at home. He easily adopts new sounds, learns different tricks. This makes the woodfinch one of the most popular pet birds.
For favorable conditions a winged pet needs a capacious cage (40-50 cm in length). Best fit cage made of wood with metal rods. The distance between them is no more than one and a half centimeters. For convenience, there are several perches inside, on which the bird can sit.
The cage is installed in a well-lit place, away from drafts. AT summer time it can be taken out to the balcony or terrace. For accelerated adaptation to new conditions, it is desirable that the cage with the goldfinch be located in a place where people most often gather. For example, in the kitchen or in the common room. So, the bird quickly gets used to the person and becomes tame.
If possible, large aviaries are built to keep the birds. Representatives of different species live in them at the same time. Goldfinches will feel comfortable in such an environment, although they may be cocky towards other inhabitants of the enclosure.
diet
The diet at home is not much different from the natural one. A feathered pet is fed with grass seeds with the addition of coniferous nuts and oatmeal. To maintain health and normal digestion, coarse sand, chalk, ground eggshells, and activated charcoal are given.
The cage must have a drinking bowl with fresh water. In the hot season, the bird not only drinks a lot, but also bathes with pleasure.
Care
So that the goldfinch bird does not lose its flight skills, it should be periodically released from the cage. Having previously provided security measures - close windows and vents, turn off the gas, remove hot objects.
The cage is cleaned regularly, at least 2 times a week.
Subject to all simple conditions, the goldfinch will look great and delight the owners with its singing and colorful appearance.
The life expectancy of goldfinches is from 8 to 13 years.