Especially the owner

What a lovely story!

@@leporellothegoldfinch Thanks, I put a little cage on my desk and put egg food in there. The finch loves it and he comes over to eat some egg food and sit on the cage once every while.. Still a little skittish of flying trough the door between the living room and the office though haha. It's a young bird, still. No coloration around the beak yet

Awesome, welcome on board! :)

Umair Ahmed yeah that bird will die soon

+jose Fernando Uhm, no. He's five years old this year... still lots more to go.

Leporello the Goldfinch - Birdtaming Tips & Tricks oh okay

your tips were very awesome and very useful.Tysm for uploading the video,it is very helpful.I am gonna train my Finch now with your helpful tips!

Thank you for your kind words! I'm hoping to post a new video soon. :)

Thank you for your kind words, and welcome to our community! :)

Hey, congratulations on your new friend! :D There's a birdtaming playlist on this channel which illustrates all the steps with a goldfinch, you might like that :) Welcome to the community!

@@leporellothegoldfinch i would love to learn taming tips from you! Can you please suggest me a Name for my Bird?

Thank you - will do! Wishing you a lovely weekend, greetings from Austria :)

Aw, what a lovely thing to say! Thank you. Glad you're enjoying the videos. :)

Thank you!

Well done, Rachel! Seems like you two are forming a bond :)

You can start training right away. If you've just got your bird, you should give them three or four days to get settled in to their new surroundings, but after that you're good no matter the age of the bird. There's a video on this channel in which Leporello is just a fledgling, too.

Hi there, if you have trouble bonding with a budgie, please don't get a finch! They are much, MUCH harder to tame than budgies, and will only cause you frustration. Finches are also very social so they either need another finch companion or a dedicated human with experience and lots of time (5+ hours a day), otherwise they will lead a life of absolute suffering and misery. - That said, most of the tips on this channel work with budgies as well, so if there's anything you need, just ask, I'm here to help! If your budgies are scared of you, start here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mr2VoqSkp8qzdqM.html And just in case: NEVER EVER put your hand in their cage (unless it's for changing food and water once a day). App. 99% of all bird owners who have trouble bonding with their birds make this grave mistake. It's one of the worst things one can do but thankfully also one of the easiest to fix (by _not_ putting one's hand in the cage anymore). Hope this helps.

Thank you for the compliment, and my pleasure! It always makes me happy to see people making an effort to care for and understand their birds. Your intuition is spot on on not grabbing your bird!! Grabbing a bird is actually the worst thing one can do, as in the wild the only time a bird is being "held" is when it is grabbed and being killed by a predator. On the contrary, letting your bird come to you is literally the best thing you can do when taming it. In other words, well done so far, it sounds as if you're on a really good track!

Leporello the Goldfinch - Birdtaming Tips & Tricks Thank you very much! Could you please make a video about basic things for bird care? There are some things people take for granted, while it really is not. Like should I let my canary take a bath during winter?

Yes, canaries need to bathe daily, regardless of season! Their native home, the Canary Islands, are warm throughout the year, so canaries should be kept inside the house and be offered a bath daily. Just make sure there are no drafts and that the room is warm enough so that your little friend doesn't catch cold.

That will be difficult, my house is not cold. But it's not warm...I don't know how to keep the room warm enough for the bird to take a bath :x Thank you I'll try to get one of those electric heaters

Don't worry, canaries cope well with temperatures down to 10°C, and your house probably won't be colder than that! :) As long as there is no draft, your little friend will be fine.

That sounds amazing, Fritz! :D It must be so nice to be woken up by a whole flock of finches by your window. Thank you for your kind words. - Just one bit of advice in case you do get a spice or gouldian finch: The New World finches are all incredibly gregarious (even more than the European species), so it would be imperative to get at least a pair if you want your bird(s) to be happy. Keep us posted :)

That's a good idea! I heard a lot of animals can become depressed if they don't have another of the same or similar species to hang out with, so I will definitely get at least a pair. I want to either build or purchase a cage big enough for them to flutter around in. I've done a lot of building in the past, and I think it'd be really cool to have like a 4'x6' cage so they'd have room to move around and not be sedentary while in their cages. Thank you for the suggestions, it really helps! Finches are so sweet!

Hi there, goldfinches are not any easier to tame than zebra finches; zebra finches may be slightly more shy but have a stronger flock (= bonding) instinct. Goldfinches are flighty, lively and don't like being touched, which can be a challenge and quite frustrating, especially in the first couple of months. If you want a bird that's easier to tame, I'd recommend going with a species that has been highly domesticated, such as a young canary, a budgie or a cockatiel (actually, a pair of them, since all these birds are very gregarious and shouldn't be kept without a mate of their own). I've had Leporello since he was a juvenile (not a chick) but he was neither handfed nor handled until I got him at around two months of age. I'd also say that taming an adult bird isn't much more difficult generally, unless that bird has made negative experiences with people (such as being grabbed on a regular basis). So if you can, adopt, don't shop - especially if you're going for something like budgies or cockatiels! They bond really well to a new, kind owner no matter what they've been through before, and they tend to be very affectionate.

Hi there, and thank you :) Great that you bought your goldfinch a new cage! Apologising to him should not be that difficult, but it might take some patience - if you continue training him the way you usually do, and are kind to him, eventually you'll gain back his trust :) Best of success!

The band is added to the foot few days after hatching, when the bird is very small, and it can't be added later. It contains the year of birth as well as the breeder's information and is proof that the bird was bred in captivity, not caught in the wild (which is both cruel and illegal in many countries).

Thank you - happy greetings from Austria! :)

Hi, welcome to the community and thank you for your kind words! Yes, this method will work for zebra finches as well. Best of success with your eggs, let us know how it goes!

Yup, these are things that apply to birds regardless of species.

Excellent job on handtaming your canary! As the saying goes, the way to a bird's heart is through his stomach :) Feeding him treats outside the cage will make him more comfortable. Birds don't eat when they're stressed, and when you feed them treats their brain will automatically tell them "I'm eating, so I must be fine". (This is the same reason why people with stage fright find it helpful to chew gum prior to a performance, by the way - lizard brain!) As for your canary flying back to his cage, don't worry: I had the same issue with Leporello initially. It might simply be that your canary is scared of something around the couch, so the way to go about it is to get him used to you carrying him one or two steps away from the cage at first. Put him back before (!) he gets nervous and flies back on his own. Repeat this for several days. Each day, move a step further away from the cage, then put your canary back before he wants to leave on his own. Eventually, you'll be able to carry him to the couch! And by then he should trust your judgement sufficiently that he'll wait for you to put him back. :)

Questions for Q&A-1. "Why you chose a gold finch?" 2."Adopting and finding the breeder." 3. How to choose the right finch or canary for you." Or 4." Traveling and having a pet bird sitter?" ;) love your channel. I just adopted a female canary. She just was at the vet for a overview and is healthy. I am now trying to hand tame her. She is my little sweetheart. I called her "Pumpkin"

Now shall I take one Finch?

Leporello the Goldfinch - Birdtaming Tips & Tricks which is a better pet Canary versus finch

Leporello the Goldfinch - Birdtaming Tips & Tricks .. Thank u. I have taken 2 budgies and the male is hand tamed but female is no more . now I am giving training to fly to my hand . Step up and down is masterd!!

Thank you! And good idea for a video. I've been meaning to do one like that for ages but I've been afflicted with writer's block. I'll try to come up with something soon.

Hi there, all training & taming tips on this channel apply to birds in general, as they are basic bird psychology. :) I'm demonstrating it with Leporello because goldfinches are particularly tricky to tame, but I know from past experience that they work with cockatiels, too. :)

i have them in my room with the door closed so its quieter. i covered the cage last nigh and uncovered and opened the cage door a bit if they feel comfortable coming outside the cage. im constantly talking to them so they can get used to my voice. do u think its a good idea for them to roam around and explore? (ive put any potentially dangerous hazards away) :) thank you

I suggest you wait with allowing your birds to fly free until you've completed this step: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mr2VoqSkp8qzdqM.html Cockatiels are inquisitve by nature, so it'll likely only take a week or so anyway. Good luck!

Hey! May I help? If I were you, I'd let out Gigi regardless. Not only because he's a bird and his muscles will atrophy quickly if he doesn't fly (which can lead to all kinds of serious health problems), but also because this will actually make training him easier at large. Like most animals, birds need exercise first and foremost. If they don't get it, they get nervous and frustrated because they have all that instinct and energy pent up inside of them, and they are very difficult if not impossible to tame. Also, many if not all birds are actually more at ease outside the cage! Leporello for instance goes into full panic mode when I bring new people over or when I vacuum and he's in the cage. But if he's out, he's totally fine with everything. I know you only want the best for Gigi, so by all means, let your little friend out and train him outside! If he doesn't want to go back in, never grab him (I know you don't like it anyway, but Gigi doesn't know that!) - it will destroy weeks and weeks of trust and training. Birds have a very good memory, especially if it happens regularly. A good way of getting your bird to go back in his cage is to only offer his main food and water in the cage, so he has to go back when he wants water or food (and he will). Best of success! - A video about golfinch nutrition is in the works.

Gigi is a difficult nut to crack.. that is what I do.. I leave the food and water in his cage so he HAS to go and eat in there. But what does he do.. He flies back out when he sees me approaching his cage to close him in. And he stays hungry. The problem is what I previously mentioned.. I can only commit hours of time on Sat and Sun when im not working. Glad for the nutri vid. I'd love to see a video of Leporello singing..

Hey! An idea just popped into my head regarding your Gigi. It only occurred to me that I never trained Leporello with my hand in his cage. This made it clear from him that the cage was his refuge in which he wouldn't be bothered, and as a consequence, he goes back in quite willingly. Very likely the solution to your problem is to stop putting your hand into Gigi's cage when he's in it. If you look at it from his perspective: The way it is now, the cage is a place which means stress for him (a strange hand he doesn't trust yet, in a confined place with nowhere to escape). So of course he wants to stay away from it. Perhaps you could try training Gigi outside the cage only to show him that the cage is a safe place in which he won't be disturbed. After a few days or weeks, he should have learnt that this is his private space, and he should go back in on his own when he wants some rest. It should also make him more trusting when he's out. Hope this helps :)

Hi There.. Previously I have thought of what you are saying, and yes you are right. But since I got Gigi when he was already mature and he used to live in an aviary with minimum contact with humans, in his books he does not need to bond with me or any other human. When you get a young bird (12 weeks or less) it is a lot easier, and 6 weeks or younger is obviously better then 12. He is not scared of my hand in his cage.. in fact my hand is a goody provider.. I give him treats from my hand. He comes and sits on my hand with no hesitation. So I think this is the only chance I have and the only way forward. So I will keep doing this for now. Then I will see if he comes on my hand outside of his cage. For a few weeks more I am not letting him out of his cage. In his cage the perches are at different levels, so he does use his wings a bit to get from perch to perch. Im considering what you said about muscle atrophy. But my goal is to have a Goldy like your handsome little boy. So don't worry about muscle atrophy cos im getting there slowly :)

I imagine! It's tricky to not scare hydrophobic birds. Leporello is the same, it took him ages to take a bath and even now, he only dips in his belly, never jumps in completely. And some people believe animals don't have characters...

No!!! Canaries and finches are much too small to carry a harness. Bear in mind that they only weigh 20-25 grams max! Much too light for any kind of harness!

@@leporellothegoldfinch Thank you, I did think they would be too small. I do not have a pet bird, just thinking about one but doing lots of research first.

Thanks! 😃

Let him out! Your bird needs free flight at least four hours a day. You can minimise bird messes by not feeding your bird outside the cage and also by offering him perches to sit on. That said, accidents will happen - one just has to live with that! PS. I'm very tidy myself and cleaning up after a small bird has never been a problem.

@@leporellothegoldfinch Both of us are right.I'm in my early fifties and I can't bend my waist because it often aches,so it's hard to clean all the time for me and sometimes I can't see where he poops.Anyway I love him.💞🐤🐥💞.

Yes.

Hello, thanks! Yes, it's easy. After moulting, all goldfinches have an orange mask. It takes several months for the red pigment to accumulate in the feathers. You can speed this up by feeding your goldfinch good quality goldfinch (not canary!) food, providing a slice of cucumber and egg food daily. You should not feed red peppers or red colouring like with canaries, because colour additives will turn a goldfinch's yellow wing feathers orange! As said, the red colour accumulates naturally over the course of two or three months with a good diet. Hope this helps.

Leporello the Goldfinch - Birdtaming Tips & Tricks. Thanks a lot with your tips, however for luck of sun here in UK, my birds have an orange mask, I have bought a supplement called mask from Germany contain only natural ingredients such as beta carotene, I hope that will helps my birds to get a good red mask. Thank you again

Hello again, redness of the mask has nothing to do with the sun. If you feed your goldfinches betacarotene, their wing feathers will go orange! As said, one shouldn't even be feeding too many red peppers, which also contain beta carotene, and certainly in much less condensed form than a supplement, so the effect of a supplement will be even worse. Also, beta-carotene supplements are hard on birds' kidneys - don't be fooled by "all natural", too much of anything is poison, especially to a small organism like a bird's. The healthiest way to get the red mask is to feed a good goldfinch mix and just wait a few weeks - that's the most natural and best for your birds. Especially young, first-year goldfinches take a while to develop a red mask; this is perfectly normal and nothing to be "cured" by a supplement. Best of luck.

Leporello the Goldfinch - Birdtaming Tips & Tricks hello and thank you for clarifying this topic to me, I was really confused, I will try to feed my bird all natural, however I would like just to ask if you have experience in breeding goldfinch, I have just set 5 couples in breeding cages and I want to know what should be done in this period after moulting. Just for curiosity are you from England?

Sure, no problem! Now's not the time for breeding goldfinches, it's a good idea to let them rest until spring, because due to complex hormonal fluctuations, breeding would likely not be successful now and chick mortality would be high. I'm from Austria but I studied and lived in England for quite a few years, it's my second home. :)

Hi there, well done training your canary! You're right, she's not ready yet. Keep them apart this year and let them go through the moult together in August/September. They should be ready to breed next year.

Hi there, finches and canaries unfortunately do not like to be touched. They generally don't even touch other birds! I only touch Leporello very rarely and I stop immediately when I see he doesn't like it. -- Thankfully, moving without scaring your birds isn't that difficult, you just have to do it very slowly and avoid jerky movements, so that they can calculate where you're going to go and that you're not going to harm them. After a while, they will get used to you moving. Best of success!

@@leporellothegoldfinch Oh ok I can understand now, I never tried too touch them, I let them come to me by themself. Thank you so much for you answer. 😊😊🙏🏻🙏🏻🥰🥰

Cool! How did you learn? We have a canary since 2 months and are understanding his body language more and more, but we have no idea what his sounds mean.

What a wonderful story! To answer your question, there's a video for it on this channel: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/h6eHZ9Z2m9WbZo0.html

Goldfinches are difficult to breed. Most common reasons for them not breeding are 1) the birds don't get along/are stressed/not used to their surroundings 2) the cage is too small/not in a calm place 3) the lighting isn't natural (must be daylight + dark at night according to the seasons) 4) insufficient nutrition (wrong food) 5) poor health. Edit: Also, depending on when your goldfinches hatched last year, they might simply not be mature enough yet. I wouldn't stress but just keep them normally and try again next year.

Hi there Kiko, it's great that you care so much about your bird! Here's how to get him to trust you: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mr2VoqSkp8qzdqM.html If you are patient and diligently apply the steps in this video, your canary will learn to trust you within a matter of weeks. Best of luck, let us know how it goes! :)

+amine mizotchi Hi there! I'm not sure if you should keep goldfish in a cage, but goldfinches are legal in the UK as long as they're captive-bred and wear a closed ring ;)

From which website did you buy yours?

I looked up reputable breeders in my area and got him from one of those. That's really your best bet of getting a healthy, friendly goldfinch!

It's legal if it has BBC ring ,.was born in cage

Hi Shobeir, you're spot on with the large cage! Goldfinches will be harder to tame with a small cage because they will constantly feel imprisoned and scared. It is also very important for your bird's overall health that the cage is big enough for him to at least flap around. If any bird is kept in a small cage, their chest muscles will atrophy, which is very harmful to their body and often takes years off their overall life span. One must also remember that goldfinches are much, much more active than canaries. So while canaries will be reasonably content sitting all day (though not ideal), a goldfinch *must* have room to fly about in his cage, or else he'll get more health problems and die sooner than necessary. Showbirds kept in small cages often only live five or six years. A goldfinch kept in a big cage can live up to seventeen. So, congratulations on your new bird! Since you've only just got him, once he's in a bigger cage (you can get used cages really cheaply from online ads, just clean them really properly with soap and very hot water before using them) I suggest you start with the routine I outlined in the first video here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mr2VoqSkp8qzdqM.html It also helps to keep a taming diary on paper or on the computer - in a few sentences every day, just note down how scared/anxious your bird was, or what he might have done that day. Going through the entries will help a lot when you think nothing is happening and will show you your progress with your new friend really well. You will see that over days and weeks, your bird will get much calmer. Making friends with a bird isn't all that different than making friends with people. You just have to respect their boundaries and over time, they will respect and trust you, too. As soon as your bird has settled in so well that he is quite calm when you're next to the cage, you can let him fly free (which, again, is very important for their health). Let me know how it goes - I'll have more tips for you at that stage, too, if you want them. :)

Hi, Thank you so much for the guidelines and recommendations! I've watched the mention video already and going to start the process. That's a great idea to have a logbook for the goldfinch! I'll start filling it today. During last 10 days, I was siting next to his cage a few times a day (not more than 10mins each time) and feeding him. I do not play with him as it scares human I believe. Currently, the goldfinch is placed on a tea table (~75cm height) in common room (where people passing by frequently). I don't have enough space in my room as you do. and I have to locate him next to my desk from the beginning.. Is that ok? Is that also ok to change his cage at the same time? I'm thinking maybe that's too much stress for him (Changing his surrounding + changing the cage) Many thanks :) (By the way, I take your tips serious as experience do speak!)

Glad to be of service! A tea table with people passing by is not ideal in the beginning - at least two of the cage walls should be covered (with an opaque cloth if no wall is nearby) and if people have to pass by the cage, it should be at least at eye level height. Very little scares goldfinches more than people being above them; this is because they have a very strong instinctive fear of predators from the air (hawks, falcons etc). - Next to your desk sounds great, especially if you can put him higher up (e.g. by putting books underneath the cage). If you don't have much space, perhaps you can try tilting the cage so that one end is further away from you in the beginning, and then gradually move it to the position you want it to be day by day. Changing both the location and giving your finch a larger cage shouldn't stress him - if anything, he will be less stressed in a larger cage, so that should actually offset the stress of moving. If you're moving him to a quieter part of your house - even better. Best of success with your logbook! Goldfinches are such intelligent birds, and it's awesome when people like you care for them and take their time to understand them. Your goldfinch will certainly feel this, too.

I just got changed his place and he is now beside my desk at my eye level. I also covered 2 of cage walls and the roof as you mention 'having eye sight from the top is like a threat for them.' I'm trying to find the cage I'm looking for (L:60cm x W:40cm x H:50cm).. Since I changed his place to my room and beside my desk, he was flying quickly in the cage the wat that I decided to leave the room and turn off the light as it was 11pm. Many thanks for your help. (I still feel guilty to keep a bird in a cage..)

Cool! The top doesn't necessarily need to be covered if the cage is high enough. The point is to avoid people or moving objects above the cage. I forgot to say, birds need a lot of daylight - not direct sunlight/drafts, but enough to be comfortable. I learnt this the hard way last year when Leporello suddenly stopped moulting, and it later turned out it was because I hadn't opened the blinds of the room early enough during summer (moulting hormones are strongly tied to sunlight hours, apparently). Your dimensions for the cage are excellent! Once you get to know your bird, you'll find that he has a preferred perch for sleeping. It may be a good idea to wait for him to get on that perch before turning off the light, just in case. It will also instill a sense of ritual in your bird: "I am sitting on this page - hence it is time to go to sleep." In other words, sounds like you're on the right track with everything. Nice! :)

It means he likes you and doesn't want you to leave him alone :) Spend more time with him!

@@leporellothegoldfinch OMG does that mean he trust me enough ?