That Bird Blog – Bird Care and History for Pet Birds

Whether they are hand or parent-reared, young Canaries usually need some encouragement to switch from the nestling to adult diet.  This change-over period can be quite stressful, but there are a number of steps you can take to ease the transition.

The Transition Period

Pet Canaries feed their chicks largely upon sprouts, soaked seeds and Egg Food or hard boiled eggs.  Once the young fledge, which usually occurs at age 16-20 days, they will be fed by their parents for an additional 2 -3 weeks.  During this time, they will also begin to pick at food and eventually learn to eat on their own.  Fledglings benefit from watching their parents and siblings…chicks that are hand-reared are at a disadvantage in this respect, but will also respond to the ideas and foods mentioned below.

Hard seeds are a novel food for young Canaries, and acquiring the skill needed to open them takes practice.  A high protein diet remains important right through the first molt (which usually begins within 2 months of fledging), but eventually seeds should replace egg-based foods as their staple.  Read More »

Although we are fortunate to have available a wide variety of commercial finch and canary diets, choosing one can be a difficult task.  Once a decision is made as to the basic type – seed or pellet – we must then consider the ingredients, which vary from brand to brand.  Today I’ll examine some well-known foods and a few often-neglected dietary supplements.

Basic Guidelines

It’s important to remember that finch species vary in their nutritional needs.  While many will thrive on the basic diets described below, to achieve optimal health and color the addition of insects, sprouts, fruit, greens and other supplementary foods will be necessary.  Depending upon the species, some of these foods can also be used to bring birds into breeding condition.  Please post your questions concerning diets for specific finches below, and I’ll provide some suggestions. Read More »

Wild finches of almost every species consume beetles, spiders, caterpillars and other invertebrates throughout the year, and in large quantities both before and during the breeding season.  While those we keep as pets may thrive on seed-based diets, providing them with a variety of insects will improve their health and encourage breeding.  A reader’s note concerning his success with Bronze-Winged Mannikins and the onset of the spring breeding season here in the Northern Hemisphere have sparked me to take another look at this important topic. Read More »

Please see Part 1 of this article for a discussion of the importance of offering your finches more than a simple “seed-only” diet.  Today I’d like to suggest some foods that will help to keep your birds in good health and brilliant color, and which may encourage breeding.

Live Insects and other Invertebrates

Insects and other invertebrates are essential for most finches, and critical during the breeding season. I’ve always maintained insect traps, such as the Zoo Med Bug Napper, to help meet the needs of my finches. 

Try collecting small grasshoppers, crickets, sow bugs, beetles, flies, termites, grubs and moths.  Please see my articles on Collecting Feeder Insects to learn more about increasing dietary variety.  Consider raising mealworms as well, so that you’ll always have a supply of nutritious pupae and newly-molted grubs on hand. Read More »

Many popular finches will live for years on relatively simple diets composed of a few types of seed.  However, studies of wild finches have revealed that most consume a wide range of other foods.  The following suggestions will help you to maintain your finches in peak health, color and breeding condition… a bit more work than simply filling a feed cup with seeds each day, but well-worthwhile. Read More »