Aussie Finch Forum

Sounds odd to me, and very small fluffy seed isnt what i thought Gouldians would be eating.

The seeds that they eat during the breeding season are, Golden beard grass and cockatoo grass.I have tried growing both down here without success.Maybe i will have another go if my seed is still viable.

I think we should be asking Kimberly breeder what wild gouldinan mix should be as she is the only forum member likely to see them eating in the wild all year. I thought the main grass were speargrass (Sarga spp, Sorghum stipoideum, S.intrans, S.plumosum) and spinifex (Triodia bitextura;T.acutispicula;T.bynoei;T.schinzii ( ref Sarah Pryke). These are grasses that you wouldn't want in your back yard on growing on your property if you've got livestock.

I am lead to believe they are the grass seeds eaten in the non breeding period Greg.I also have both of them in seed form, but have not been successful in keeping them alive aswell .Yes the spearhead i had a 20kg bagful seed with tail, and is defiantly not a good one to handle.

Could this be a con to make money out of the gullible? One hopes not.
LML

I spoke with Sam over 6 yrs ago so my memory may be a little vague.I do recall he was in charge of the revegertation of grasses for gouldians in the N.T,But cant recall if he had any direct dealings with Sarah but i recall he Knew her. I recall doing alot of research on what type of seeds they ate those years ago and am confident the two listed below were eaten during the breeding season.What I am not confident of if these were eaten by the gouldians in the N.T only and possibly another sub specie in a different area.Perhaps the grasses have different common names in different geographic areas.

Golden beard grass (Chrysopogon fallax)
cockatoo grass (Alloteropsis semialata)

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/stories/s1284748.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

After reading breakdown on this site I would tend to think Goulds would eat it.....Bio says it is very palatable http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/For ... njiana.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

vettepilot_6 wrote:After reading breakdown on this site I would tend to think Goulds would eat it.....Bio says it is very palatable http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/For ... njiana.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Im sure they would eat it but my point is that there is probably far better seeds available if people want t try something different, its not really the case that people are struggling to breed Gouldians. There was a study done recently on Zebra Finches at work in regards to our dreaded Buffel Grass. It also has tiny seeds and given a choice,the zebs didnt really like it. With such a small seed you will probaly find that it is largely ignored particularly when there is young in the nest. The birds know that they have to spend too much time eating this seed to get a decent feed andwill go for slightly larger seed that easier to consume in greater amounts.

yeah agree Desert Birds....I usually sprout seed anyway...but If it is viable seed wouldnt mind growing some, even for some other types of finches ...they may just use to nest with but variety is the spice of life...so who knows

My seed arrived today, well they like it ..... but not sure they like it anymore than any other good seed.
The quality is high and I am in Perth, it comes vacuum sealed

Thanks