Aussie Finch Forum

I swa my first trio of these today and fellin LOOOVEEE!!! Would love to know a bit more about them in terms of housing and compatable species and if there are any special dietary or housing requirements. I am getting a large aviary very soon and think these would be ideal ;) Any advice or where a reputable breeder in WA is would be great!!

They need oily seed sunflower Niger I house mine separate for the simple reason that the other birds eat and get fat on siskin food.

They are generally compatible, I have heard even other siskins can be housed with them, not sure if that's actually true.
I would suggest for everything important about siskins, consult the kingston
by the way the secret for success is fresh sunflower heads with seed ;) and niger is important.
Love them too, planning on some

I swa my first trio of these today and fellin LOOOVEEE!!! Would love to know a bit more about them in terms of housing and compatable species and if there are any special dietary or housing requirements. I am getting a large aviary very soon and think these would be ideal ;) Any advice or where a reputable breeder in WA is would be great!!

Hi Kim,

Siskins are defiantly an experienced breeder bird. They are one of the few birds that can eat (and need to) high oil seeds like niger and linseed without ever getting fat. Grey striped sunflower kernels are another favourite of theirs I would feed in a separate dish.

They are not usually aggressive but I have seen them beat the bejesus out of other species from the Carduelis family. Some males do most of the work with raising the chicks which is different to grass finches, and they build a neat little cup nest (like a canary). I have even seen some breeders use small, 1 meal baked bean tins for nesting!

Speaking of canaries, Siskens where originally used to cross with canaries to get the red factor canaries. Male Siskins actually sing a lot as well which is quite pleasant. Not as strong as a canary but melodious all the same.

You don’t need live food to breed them but they do a LOT better if you do supply maggots, mealworms, termites etc.
I would also feed them dandelions, milk thistle, maw, and black & white lettuce seed as it makes their red much deeper and brighter (at least that’s what I think lol).

You need a well planted aviary as they like to hide in the bush a lot. But especially for the chicks as they fledge very early and need somewhere to hide before they can fly.

At the moment Red Hooded Siskins go for about $300 - $350 in QLD. They are great little birds for any collection but the hens can be quite soft, so a lot of care and good shelter, diet, medications etc. are needed.

I don’t have any at the moment but they are defiantly on my future must have again list!

Good luck!

Thanks for the info..consulted my Kingston book in the meantime...might wait a couple years first when I can house them on their own. Gorgeous bird though, pictures do not do it justice!!

hey where'd my post go??????

To the other topic ;)

oooooooooooh ok

I have merged the two topics, so all the posts should be in here now. (fingers crossed)