european goldfinch

[meepmeeps]

not sure where to start really but i was given a goldfinch about 2 - 3 months ago because he fell into someone's chip fryer (it was off at the time lol) and he was covered head to toe in chip fat so the woman panicked and took him to a petshop, the petshop then called my friend and then my friend brought him to me where he is still now. when i first got him he had no tail feahers at all, no feathers on his head appart from a few on one side. anyway now all of his feathers have grown back and the ugly duckling is now a beautiful swan so to speak. he was kept in a breading cage for the 1st 2 months and 4 weeks ago i put him in my indoor mixed aviary. only reason i put him in the aviary was because when i let him out to fly around my room he kept going to the aviary and must have tried every single hole in the wire mesh to get in.

Anyway its been 4 weeks now since he has been in there and i keep a cuban finch, 2 star finches, 2 owl finches, 1 goldfinch, 2 st helena's, about 15 gouldians. he seems to really like it in there and doesnt fight at all with the others (appart from when i put fresh cut red millet sprays in there) oh how he loves them MORE than dandelions lol i think he will fight to the death to protect his precous red millet sprays. he was a wild bird when he came to me and was very frightened when ever he see me. now he doesnt bother at all and seems to look at my hands i guess to see what i am bringing for him next lol. as its now well into autum i plan to keep him in the warmth over the winter indoors but was going to ask would it be a good idea to let him go in the early spring? he is after all a wild bird and i feel he belongs with his own kind when the cold weather is over. i am also a little bit worried he has become too tame and may not do too well with the wild birds when its time to be released. some friends who are also bird keepers say keep him but it feels wrong.

he has recently started to sing a lot which he never did for the first 2 months, constant beak wiping on perches when female gouldians get near him and he also keeps ruffling his feathers. he doesnt look unhappy at all infact quite the opposite. ive been trying to make sure i give him the best diet i can get my hands on and fresh various greens every day with nyger seed and sunflower seed as i heard their diet must contain plenty of oily seeds. ive seen him on several occassions groom the cuban finch which the cuban loves and ive seen him feed the cuban too which i thought was very strange. although the european goldfinch is a native bird here in the uk i know pretty little about them and was hoping for some solid advice on what to do? would i be wrong to keep him or should i release him in the spring? is his general behaviour strange in my aviary at the moment? any help or advice would be much appreciated.

thanks

[vettepilot_6]

This is just my opinion...I would keep him as although wild and you may think its cruel, but they do not have very long lives in the open....He would live much longer in your care as a responsible bird keeper....Check Zoo's etc how many animals live way past their wild counterparts....

[Netsurfer]

There are lots of Goldfinches been kept by people in the UK so why not keep him. Find out what it is a male or female or post a photo on this forum so we can guess, it's not difficult to ID the sexes. If kept in their own cage or not to crowded aviary they will breed, see if you can get the opposite sex of someone. This bird has probably lost its sens of alertness they need in the wild to be able to survive if you release him it may not survive 24 hours in the wild.

[meepmeeps]

thank you i really appreciate your advice. i'd be heart broken to let him go and find out he died after all the hard work i went through with him. oh its a male i forgot to mention. i did have another male goldfinch brought to me shortly after getting this one as he got soaked to death in the heavy rain we had here and was almost dead but i looked after him for 4 - 5 days and then was delighted to release him back into the wild i cant explain the feeling when you release a bird back in to the wild knowing you have helped him and you feel you have done your part as a human being its something words cant explain.
at nights he seems to sit next to a red head female gouldian to roost, i thought this a bit strange and wondered if its even posible for a goldfinch and gouldian to cross breed? ive never heard of a goldfinch breeding with a gouldian and if they have im not even sure of the young would be fertile? interesting thought if i am going to keep him i guess i am going to have to do some serious reading up on them so i can make sure he has everything he needs at all times. he really is such a joy especially when all the other birds go down to bath he has to get in there with them lol
i will try to post a photo of the little guy as soon as i get around to taking some snapshots of the aviary next thanks again for the advice

[elferoz777]

[quote="meepmeeps"]not sure where to start really but i was given a goldfinch about 2 - 3 months ago because he fell into someone's chip fryer

I am so glad you mentioned the fryer was off......had horrible images then..

Seems pretty happy to live with you.

I would be tempted to keep him as he may just hang around and get picked of easily by a predator.

[nirep]

Hi meepmeeps from what I know you are not meant to keep your native goldfinch captive unless it has a closed ring.Where you are there are inspectors that randomly check these things and it is to stop people capturing native birds in the wild.Its a wonderful story and you sound like an incredible bird keeper.Let us know how you go.

[arthur]

.Where you are there are inspectors that randomly check these things and it is to stop people capturing native birds in the wild.p:

Campbell Newman sacked them all . .

OOOPS . .

Location: England not Queensland

[Myzomela]