Goldfinch

Goldfinches

Goldfinches in the Hospital

Goldfinches, while easy to feed in homecare, require a bit of special attention when they are raised in the wildlife hospital setting.

Handfeeding Goldfinches

Unlike many other songbirds, goldfinch nestlings are not fed many insects by their parents and require a different handfeeding formula we call Finch Diet (FD).

Young goldfinches do not stop gaping when they are handfed. As with other nestling songbirds that store food in their crop, be attentive to whether the crop is empty before feeding and make sure it doesn't get overfilled.

Goldfinches tend to move their heads when they are being syringe fed. Practice giving small amounts in short bursts so that when you syringe feed, they don't move their head while you are still depressing the plunger on the feeding syringe. If you do get food on their feathers, make sure to clean their feathers right away. Ask someone if you do not know how to do this. Also make sure the formula is the right consistency. It should be about the consistency of thick pancake battery. If it is too watery, it can drip out of the syringe and get all over their feathers. Also, if it's too watery, they are not getting enough calories because the formula is too diluted.

Normally, their feces, like other songbirds, should look dark and well-formed. They are susceptible to stress-related diseases such as an overgrowth of yeast or clostridium bacteria in their gut which can cause diarrhea. Diarrhea in goldfinches causes their feces to appear loose, lighter in color and grainy. In advanced cases, their feces can look the same as their hand-feeding formula - yellow, loose and grainy. What goes in should not look the same coming out. At the first sign of diarrhea, you should notify your mentor or shift leader or fill out an FYI form so that staff can perform the correct fecal examination and prescribe medication if needed.

Make sure the goldfinches are being fed an adequate amount closer to the upper range of what the chart says based on their weight as long as they are emptying their crops between feedings. Otherwise, they will not get enough calories during the course of the day.

Diet

Adult or self-feeding diet
- Goldfinch Mix (Approximately (doesn't need to be exact) 95% Nyjer (thistle seed), 4% bird seed, 1% chipped (no shell) sunflower seed)
  - The main component of their diet in captivity is Nyjer.
  - They love sunflower seed, but it's high in fat with a poor calcium phosophorus ratio, so it is more of a treat and a way to add calories. Growing babies require an optimal calcium phosphorus ratio while they are developing their bones.
  - Sunflower seeds should be chipped with no shell. Hospital patients are usually compromised in some way so we want to make sure the sunflower pieces are small and easier to eat.
Hand-feeding diet
- Finch Diet (Exact by Kaytee mixed with Carnivore Care)
  - Goldfinches have one of the more stricter vegetarian diets of nestling songbirds. They don't eat very many insects as nestlings and need less protein in their formula than other songbirds.
Transitioning to adult diet
- Sprinkle Exact powder on their seed when they are just starting to learn to pick at the seed in the flight cages
  - Sometimes fledgling goldfinches will eat Exact powder. This may be a good way to help them to learn to self-feed and get enough calories as they are transitioning from handfeeding to eating on their own

Homecare Information

Natural food items to try in homecare

Soft grass seeds
Birch seeds
Lavendar
Rosemary
Sages (Mexican sage)
Sunflower leaves
Catmint
Basil flowers
Other flowers
Beet leaves (for American, not Lesser)
Berries

Tips for homecare

Raise food dish higher than floor of cage if possible by putting it on some kind of platform.
For babies:
- Try sprinkling Exact on the thistle to encourage the bird to self-feed
- Some babies will eat either
  - Exact powder (powder straight from can)
  - Exact paste (Exact mixed with water into a very thick paste that won't stick to their feet or feathers if they go through it. This needs to be changed out regularly at least every 3 hours.)
- As the fledgling grows older and starts to pick at the food in the syringe, can make the food thicker so it's easier to grab with beak
  - When bird is old enough to pick at the syringe, probably old enough to get its water from drinking from a dish
- Can also put Exact paste in a tiny bowl hung next to its perch so bird can eat the paste while still perched
Tips for birds taking longer to self-feed
- Besides the usual birch, lavender, etc., these are some additional things I have found that inspire foraging:
  - Finding an oak branch with lichen...they love to pick at it
  - Tie a spray of millet to one of their perches
  - Tie a floret of broccoli to a perch, also a small inner leaf of romaine
  - Most importantly, offer sunflower chips that are similar in size to the nyger, in other words very small chips. This has always worked for me. (-SH)

Feeding Schedule in Homecare

Exact amount fed depends on how well food is emptying from the crop. Amount fed may need to be adjusted to achieve the correct frequency.

This feeding schedule is best for homecare, when the care person can pay close attention to the individual's changing nutritional needs.

In the hospital, for consistency, use a consistent pudding-like consistency and do not feed more than 0.8 ml per feeding.

Goldfinch Feeding Schedule

DIY tiny hanging food container for bird cage

For fledgling goldfinches, can be used to place an thick, Exact paste mixture, right next to the perch to encourage self-feeding
- Exact paste should be made as thick as possible so bird can't get its feathers dirty
- Exact paste should be replaced every 3 hours