Aussie Finch Forum

My 4 jouvenile gouldians fledged in November last year. I was wondering why their heads are a dirty grey colour. They all have their coloured chest & back feathers. I'm hoping that their heads are not going to remain grey. They were bred from a beautiful read headed cock and the hen's head is mostly black with a touch of red. (From what I have read on the forum I think you call it dirty red)

What colour chest and back on the parents? It could be they are stuck in the moult. I had a bird fledge really late and he kept grey looking feathers on his head till the next moult, hes now a beautiful redhead.

I've got 4 juveniles that fledged a month ago and noticed today that one of them is already practicing his male song and has started to colour up on his breast.Is this unusual? I thought they wouldn't colour up till the end of the year and my last batch started with their head feathers.

None of my Gouldian fledglings are showing any colour, but some of Mum's that fledged earlier are showing colour round the head. It depends when they fledge and the weather where they are.
LML

Bluebutterfly is spot on with to advice. Really late fledged goulds (as in november) will not really colour up untl the following years moult. Most young goulds will make a partial moult showing thier head/breast colours and display/sing which gives a fair indication of their sex before the full moult which ( in my neck of the woods) take place November/December. Don't worry, they are probably mature enough to breed and would probably have a go but will be stronger because of the extra time. Most of the birds that are for sale in the new year are the prior seasons chicks are in an all reality lucky to be 6-7 months old and may have a problem with the 1st time breeding.

Bluebutterfly when is the next years moult, Is it a year from when they fledged? Both the parents have yellow/purple chests and green backs. Thanks for your advice

At the moment I have some YH PC GB young that hatched out 17th October 2010, they only had a few coloured feathers for ages but now they are as you can see in the pics. Same parents, same clutch. So they are colouring up at the same time as this years young with a bit of a head start in some cases. The one in the middle of the 2nd pic isnt last years young.

Thanks bluebutterfly. The birds in your pictures are exactly how mine are looking. Now I'm happy