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Editor's Note: The last Question and Answer column ended with the question "Is it possible to raise Gouldian finches in cages?" A number of answers came in including the following two.
Answer: Yes! I raise between 400 and 639 (my best year) Gouldians each year all in cages. While I have just as good luck raising them in canary double breeding cages, I prefer larger cages. Most of my cages are made of 'Ii x 1 inch wire and are 12 inches high, 11 inches deep, and 22 inches long. I buy nest boxes from R&R Cabinet Shop in Big Spring, Texas as their boxes are just a little larger than the standard size and this extra room is helpful when some clutches have up to nine babies. The nest boxes are hung on the outside of the cages.
Darwin Perchell Grand Rapids, MI
Anwser: Yes' It is possible to raise Gouldians in a cage. I keep a pair in the house in a cage that is 72 inches long, 18 inches high, and 12 inches deep. There are four perches, the higher two are five feet apart and the lower two are three feet apart allowing lots of horizontal flying room. I have two incandescent Plant Lite bulbs in the cage set on a timer to be on 14 hours per day. A red bulb is used as a heat source and night light and is placed just below the nest box perch. The nest box is to rhe side of the cage and has a two by three inch rectangular entrance hole. The humidity is unmonitored and the temperature is regulated to 72 ° in the daytime and 65 ° at night during cold weather. In later spring the thermostat is turned off and the temperature varies with the weather.
Tom Stout, III Minneapolis, MN
Question: I have a finch-like bird that is about the size of a large canary. I can find no information on it at all. I don't even know what it is called. It has rusty brown wings and tail with the rest of the body being glossy black. This bird also has an unusual crest. Its feet and bill are dark grey. Any information you could give me on this bird would be greatly appreciated
R.P., Winder, Georgia
Answer: It is impossible to identify your bird based on the meager data you supplied. If you will fill in a few details and send a picture (even a polaroid snapshot would help) we'll ask James Northern of U .C.L.A. 's biology department to make an identification. He is a master at that sort of thing. He'll want to know if it is a native bird that you caught in the yard or was it purchased from a store. Give a complete list of what it eats. Does it perch on tree branches and high perches....