Thank you, Joanna, all the best to you, too! :)

Thank you! Yes, these videos are quite labour-intensive and I'm self-employed, so I don't get around to making as many as I'd like! I hope to be uploading more regularly in the summer months, when business is not as hectic and I'll have more time :)

Long time no see! Glad you enjoyed it :)

Leporello the Goldfinch - Birdtaming Tips & Tricks awesome video love it two questions why do birds puff up and when do thistles grow because i have two in my garden and they are brown

Hi there, birds puff up when they're either angry, ill, comfortable or sleepy. Quick guide: Back feathers sharply and quickly raised = angry Sitting still, eyes half or wholly closed, back rounded, balanced = comfortable/sleepy Sitting still, eyes half or wholly closed, back looks bumpy/edgy, trembling = ill Thistles normally grow year-round; if you live in a continental climate, they get ripe between August and November. Now's a good time to pick them! Make sure you remove any spiky leaves and that the flower heads aren't rotten (black, wet) inside. Hope this helps :)

Leporello the Goldfinch - Birdtaming Tips & Tricks thank you once again it would be very difficult with out help like you and tips and all of that thank you so much

My pleasure! :)

Salut! Voilà: mischlinge1.jimdo.com/stieglitz/hahn-oder-henne/ Hahn = male, Henne = femelle. J'espère que ca vous aidera! :)

Happy to hear that! Goldfinches are very parrot-like. :)

Jealous birds are the cutest.

Leporello the Goldfinch - Birdtaming Tips & Tricks I know and when he's angry he is transforming into a ball😂😂

I'm sure he'd agree! :D

Hey! Thank you, always happy to see you around :) There is a lovely 19th century book by a bird lover who describes how he built a custom cage for his goldfinch, complete with a drawstring well and a trick box for the bird feed. That man really went all out with the mental challenge! Have a great journey, keeping my fingers crossed here that many goldfinches will cross your path!

Thanks.. I recognize them from a mile away.. those black and yellow flashy wings, and their distinctive calls.If they do cross my path.. i'll certainly realise without a doubt... Kal is suprising me so much.. he is a he for sure this time (and at last) and he is singing already.. The melody isn't loud and is a far cry from the 'perfect goldfinch melody' but he still has no sign of red on his head... Fingers crossed that in the next few months he will brush up a little and become like yours.. :)

Thanks!

My pleasure! Yes, the cage would barely be big enough for a pair of budgies - they like to climb and shred a lot, so I'd get a bigger cage for them if possible (like an indoor aviary). My cage is a really old one from an Italian manufacturer named Ferplast, which I bought second-hand for around 10€. Tip, pet store cages tend to be both too small and terribly overpriced - it's much better to check your local Craigslist for used bird cages. Just make sure you clean them very, very well, disinfect (with pet disinfectant, not bleach) and rinse them thoroughly before use. Happy cage hunting!

Dankeschön! I studied abroad, so it would be more unusual if I didn't ;)

Leporello the Goldfinch - Birdtaming Tips & Tricks that sounds like a lot of fun. I'm Dutch, and I'm getting a pair of budgies soon. I must say your video's are very helpful. ( We used to have a couple of birds when I was little canaries, goldfinches. ) But they were never tamed.

Hi Zeitgeist, thanks for your comment! (Cool username, by the way.) Mirrors are a difficult thing when it comes to birds... from our perspective, it is cute when a goldfinch gets excited and interacts with her reflection, but from the bird's perspective it's a different thing. Your goldfinch obviously thinks there's another goldfinch in the mirror, and because they are very territorial, she is likely trying to chase the intruder away. It may look cute to us, but it's a big source of unhealthy stress for the bird. To illustrate: Imagine someone randomly puts another person in your room, a man who you know wants to beat you up - what would you do? You'd probably try to defend yourself and be quite anxious and stressed as a result. This is kind of what mirrors do to birds. Of course, then there is the other end of the spectrum, where a bird gets lonely and bonds with the mirror. This can be even worse, because the bird will try to feed the mirror, and regurgitates food. Because the mirror doesn't swallow it, the bird will swallow it again, and over time this will lead to painful crop infections due to the high acid content in stomach acid. This serious health risk (not to mention the psychological damage) is why mirrored cage toys are illegal in the EU and in some other parts of the world. There is also a third big danger coming from mirrors - and that is, if your bird panics for some reason (it happens all the time, could be another bird at the window, or a car going by, or a light on the ceiling), your bird might mistake the big mirror for a window and crash right into it, breaking her neck. We need to remember that neither glass nor mirrors exist in the wild, so they have no mental capacity to remember that when they panic and instinct takes over. I would always suggest covering windows and mirrors in rooms where birds fly free, or to remove mirrors altogether when possible. Long story short: There probably isn't too much harm in letting your bird play with a mirror once in a while, but it isn't good for them and can even harm them, so it's best to avoid it altogether.

Oh my gosh... I was intuetively feeling some like this, even if she looked so happy (but with some aggresive bursts)... In fact, we learnt the glass lesson via the "hard" way, LOL... Thank you so much for yor detailed response. You are a charm. :)

My pleasure, and thanks. Intuition tends to be a good guide with birds. :)

That's amazing! I'd love to see that. - Goldfinches have a large individual distance, they don't even tolerate members of their own species coming close; so unfortunately, no head scratches, only belly kisses. I've tried using a Q-tip on a number of occasions, but none of the Q-tips has ever survived the attempt. ;)

Also, I remember a video like you mention, but I think the bird was a Chinese white-eye... they are much more tactile and cuddly than finches (including canaries).

Hi there, thanks for your comment. This channel is about goldfinches as companions, not breeding stock, so if you're looking for tips on breeding, check out this big channel named Goldfinch Fans! Hope this helps.

thanks and good luck !!

You are absolutely right, the reasoning faculties of small birds are definitely underrated (and largely un-studied). For instance, Leporello will trade a piece of string for a hemp seed, but not for a less nutritious nyjer seed. How does he know? What kind of abstract reasoning goes on in that little brain in order to make that distinction of personal benefit? - Maybe a goldfinch, too, could understand the principle of say, water replacement. You're giving me ideas!

@@leporellothegoldfinch i wouldn't be surprised. As for 'largely unstudied', my impression is this applies for the clever Schaffenswisstler, but plenty of observant bird people know more. Do you know two books by Len Howard, publ mid-20th century: 'Birds as Individuals' and 'Living with Birds'? Retiring early from her job in a professional orchestra, she spent the rest of her life in a little rural cottage, sharing her garden AND the inside of her house with birds, especially Great-Tits, observing, interacting with and caring for them. Human visitors were discouraged. She noted dispassionately and extensively their behaviour over many years. The first book was translated into german. I know your english is just as good as your german, but as it happens i have a battered old spare copy of this translation, and wld be happy for you to have it if u r interested. If so, contact me via my channel (there is some sort of way to send private messages there i think) + we can decide how to send it.

Hi there, great to see you doing research on providing a great home for your canary! He's very lucky to have you. This video will help you: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rqqdhrZeqai2oY0.html

Thank you

Thanks! We are from Austria.

Same with humans - for instance, you can get along well with your siblings and they'll still try to kill you if you try and take their food 😜

The video "Super tame goldfinch angry" says it all.

If you've seen any of the other videos, you'll know that I have already addressed this. Leporello has trouble socialising with other birds. It has been attempted to get him company multiple times, but so far he has rejected all of it. He doesn't seem to think that he needs a "female gf", so I'm not going to force him to live with one. - Note that goldfinches do not have a strong flock instinct, and are "distance birds" - they spend large parts of the year living on their own, too. And some birds are simply more solitary than others.

You just need to separate them at first so that they only can hear each other,then put them in a place where they can hear and see each other(long distance)......then put thier cages near each other you'll notice that they are traying to contact to each other .....finally put them in the same cage ........anyway make sure that thier beak are clean white befor doing all of this (that means that they are ready for mating season ).......However all goldfinch males are verry protective of their area at first even against females that's why they need to get used to each other first .sorry am not good in english; peace ! :)

Hi there, thank you for your time. You are describing the correct method, which I know all too well; this is pretty exactly what I've been doing - with the exception that two birds should never just be "put into the same cage" even after hearing and seeing each other for a while, but instead have their first meetings on neutral ground, ideally in a new cage or during their free flight. Still no luck. My guess is that the breeder may have separated Leporello too early from his siblings (due to "aggression"), he thus never learnt certain social bird behaviours and imprinted on humans instead. I've had birds all my life and while most of them were social with their own kind, however, this one just seems to be different. Perhaps this is why he bonds so well with people. I've seen (and rescued) plenty of unhappy birds - this is not one of them: he shows absolutely no signs of restlessness, diminished health, frustration or neurotic behaviour so common in unhappy birds. So, as long as he is happy, I shall be.