Gouldian head colour preference

02 Jul 2017, 15:56

Hi All
This is my first post. I have been breeding gouldian finches for about three years now. The cock bird of one of my red headed pairs is split for black. So some of the hens that the pair produce are black heads. From my reading gouldians tend to pair up with their own head colour and that has been my experience as well. Before the breeding season I let all head colours mix in a large Avery to select their own mate. My question is since the black headed hen is imprinted by the red headed parents, will she tend to pair up with a black head or a red head?

02 Jul 2017, 18:52

I have all Gouldian head colours (although mostly black & yellow-headeds in recent years) and have been breeding them with many mixed head-colour pairs as well as same head colour pairs each season. In over 40 years of breeding Gouldians I have not noticed any preference toward or away from the same head colour. ie. I have found that the most compatable self-selected pairs are a genuine across the board mix of same and different head colours and that head colour has absolutely no bearing on mate selection, compatability, sexes of progeny or rearing success whatsoever.

12 Jul 2017, 21:49

I'm pretty sure the myth about head colour preference was thrown out when the author of the paper was found to be manipulating the data.

13 Jul 2017, 08:00

Really?

13 Jul 2017, 08:33

GouldianGuy wrote: ↑12 Jul 2017, 21:49 I'm pretty sure the myth about head colour preference was thrown out when the author of the paper was found to be manipulating the data.

You're talking about Dr Sarah Pryke, correct? Is that simply a rumour, or has it been proven she was "manipulating the data"? I've read many of her research papers on Gouldians so I am surprised to hear of a suggestion of academic dishonesty.

13 Jul 2017, 09:59

GouldianGuy wrote: ↑12 Jul 2017, 21:49 I'm pretty sure the myth about head colour preference was thrown out when the author of the paper was found to be manipulating the data.

When so many of us breed Gouldians ...I myself highly doubted those claims..as I never found they were swayed to go to their own head colours....

13 Jul 2017, 10:09

I have never heard that rumor either but i don't believe as well even given the the results of Sarah's findings that gouldians prefer certain head colour mates but i go along with the flow. Craig

13 Jul 2017, 12:46

I have no idea why some birds would prefer their own head colour. Mine do not seem to have such a preference. But I have observed that food preferences vary with what they get as chicks, so maybe the same applies to head colours and what their opposite sex parent was? However as we all know birds can learn to eat new food types, so by offering them different mates, I am sure that come the breeding season hormones will fix the problem.
LML

13 Jul 2017, 17:23

Gouldian head colours.

Based on the research of Dr.SaraH Pryke. (SaraH with an H)

The red head is the dominant colour.
Research by Sarah has shown that red heads prefer to choose a partner of the same head colour.
Only when this is not achievable does the red head go for the black head.

The female Gouldian can also determine the sex of the offsprings.

Unless people can prove otherwise I am going with Sarah.
But maybe I am a little bias. I call her a friend.

cheers, case

13 Jul 2017, 20:51

We all like Sarah and wish her a speedy recovery and hope she comes back one day.

One thing that intrigues me is, how do the gouldians know what head colour they are without looking in a mirror

or does the prospective mates whisper in each others ear and say " your a beautiful red head, tell what i am and if i'm red headed too let's get together" I don't think so, so can someone please explain to me how it's done.

Craig