Lady Gouldians
(Chloebia gouldiae)
Common Names: Gouldian Finch, Lady Gouldian Finch, Goulds, Rainbow Finch
Description: In the wild Lady Gouldians can be seen in three forms including Red Head, Yellow (Orange) Head, and Black Head. The black head variety is the most common followed by the red head then yellow (orange) head. Males show a full bright mask in either of the three head colors outlined with black. The black head outline meets at the chin and extends down the throat. A turquoise blue band outlines the black and covers the upper nape and lower throat. Males have a deep purple breast and a vivid yellow belly which gradually turns into white near the vent and under tail area. A medium-dark green covers the lower nape below the turquoise band and proceeds down the back. The upper tail coverts are blue and the outer tail feathers are black-green. Males at maturity have pearl white beaks with either a red or orange tip depending on head mutation and long tail wires or barbs. Hens have the same color green back but are duller in other areas. Their breast is diluted to a lilac color and the belly is a paler yellow. The black head variety hens have a bright full mask resembling a males but the red and yellow (orange) head mutation hens rarely have full mask. Often times red or yellow (orange) headed hens have a considerable amount of black feathers mixed in with the mask color. The turquoise band on hens is barley visible and at maturity their beak retains at dark hue and can become almost entirely black. Both sexes have dark brown eyes.
Size: These beautiful finches range about 5 inches (13 cm) and are about the same size as a Spice Finch.
Origin: Gouldians were named by naturalist John Gould after his wife which he felt resembled thier beauty. They were first discovered in the end of the nineteenth century and still reamin wild in northern parts of Australia but are considered an endangered species in some parts of thier homeland. In the US gouldians are a domestic breed with numerous mutations.
Mutations/Sub-species: There are three distinct head colors on gouldians which include black, red and yellow (orange). These three head colors can be combined with different forms of breast colors including purple, lilac, white and blue. Normally the back color is green but now shows in two other forms including yellow back and blue back. These exsisting back mutations have been combined to form futher mutations such as pastels, dilutes, silvers and whites. Below are photos of some mutations.
Normal Back Gouldian Mutations
Normal, Dilute, Yellow
& Blue Back Gouldians
More Gouldian Mutations
More Gouldian Mutation photos provided by Gouldian Fever Aviary and authorized by Tammie Hurley.
Click the link below to go to the Gouldian Fever Aviary webpage.
Lady Gouldian Finch Genetics
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Head Color Mutations
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Genetic Inheritance
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Red Head
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Sex-Linked Dominant
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Black Head
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Sex-Linked Recessive
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Yellow Head
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Autosomal Recessive
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Breast Color Mutations
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Genetic Inheritance
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Purple Breast
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Autosomal Dominant (Wild Type)
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Blue Breast
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(Purple + Dark Factor)
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Lilac Breast
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Dominant to White Breast / Recessive to Purple Breast
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White Breast
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Autosomal Recessive
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Back Color Mutations
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Genetic Inheritance
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Normal (Green) Back
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Sex-Linked Recessive / Dominant to Blue Back
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Yellow Back (DF Yellow)
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Sex-Linked Dominant
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Dilute Back (SF Yellow)
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(Normal x DF Yellow) male combination
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Blue Back
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Autosomal Recessive
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Pastel Back (Dilute Blue)
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(Dilute Back x DF Blue Back) male combination
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Silver
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(DF Yellow Back x DF Blue Back) combination
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White
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(Dilute Back x BH-WB Silver) combination
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If you would like to learn more about Gouldian Genetics click the egg below.
It will take you to the Finch Information Center which explains the differences in genetic inheritance and shows illustrations.
I also recommend reading the books:
Gouldian Finches by Matthew M. Vriends & A Guide to Gouldian Finches by John Summut and Rob Marshall
Diet: A good Gouldian diet consisit of mixed millets, small cereal seed, canary grass seeds, and niger seed. Fresh water, cuttlebone, grit and charcoal should be supplied at all times. Lettuce, Spinach, Chickweed, Spray Millet, Eggfood, Brocolli tops and Carrot tops can also be offered on a regular basis. Live food can be offered but is not nessacary.
General Care: These birds require routine nail trimming. Provide bath water daily. Heat lights can be added to add warmth.
Compatibility: Gouldians can be kept together in same species aviaires, mixed-species aviaries or as single pairs. Be careful not to put them with other species that might be agressive towards them. There can be slight agression at times between hen & male. Normaly this occurs when a hen wants to be relieved from the nest. She will flog after the male until he goes into the nest.
Housing: Many Gouldians are house in individual box breeding cages much like Canaries. However, they will thrive in a large planted aviary with plenty of room to fly, sing and socialize. Winter heating should be provided. The best temperature to maintain is around 75-85 degrees as Gouldians do not do well in cold temperatures. They can tolerate low temperatures of 50 degrees if natualy aclimatized to it over a period of time but if they are suddenly removed for warmer temps and placed into cold climate they can become ill. If you intend to breed you would do better with an idividual pair set up as less dominant Gouldians seem to get easily distracted from breeding in colony settings. I would suggest a minimum breeding cage space of 24 inches long x 18 inches high x 18 inches wide with a 1/2 inch bar spacing if you use wire cages. Do not house them in round cages. We breed our Gouldians in tier-style box cages. They seem to enjoy the privacy of solid wall box breeder cages. All our young weaned Gouldians are placed in a 4ft. long x 3 ft. wide x 3 ft. tall flight cage to color up and exercise untill paired up the following year. Our pairs are also placed in large flights during summer to rest from breeding and molt.
Song: The male Gouldian Finch has a very soft song. He will puff out his feathers and stand tall while he quickly hops up and down singing. They will sing to hens and other males. The hens do not sing but do make calls (wee-eet) or warning sounds.
Breeding: Some people feel Gouldians are not very good parents and foster there eggs out to Societies. On the other hand, I feel Gouldians can make fine parents and fostering seems to be more of a production method. I can't say we haven't had males toss babies out of the nest before but at the same time we have Gouldian pairs that can raise six babies just fine. If the occasion arises when fostering must be done I prefer to use other gouldian pairs if possible. At this point, I can not say Gouldians fostered to Societies are any less vigle than parent raised Gouldians as we have used both as breeders. I will say birds which have had previous breeding attempts that failed can become perfect parents with practice. The problem is most people don't want to sacrifice $75.00 and up babys for practice. We do have some very determined mature hens which make excellent parents no matter which male they are mated with.
Gouldians do not seem to be too picky about nesting sites. We have used finch boxes, gourds, canary nest and large covered wicker baskets. Gourds and large coverd wicker baskets seem to work the best. Babys seem to fledge to soon using canary nest. We have gourds and finch nest boxes in our Gouldian breeding cages and most pair prefer to nest in the gourds. They lay 3-7 eggs normally one every other day. Some pairs start incubating after the third egg is laid others wait untill the entire clutch of eggs is laid. The hen does most of the incubating with the male sitting next to her or guarding the nest. The male does relive the hen although at times she has to call him to the nest or flog him in. Eggs hatch after 14 days of incubation and young Gouldians can take 2-3 weeks before they fledge. After leaving the nest it can take another 2-3 weeks before they are weaned and independent. Juvenile Gouldians normaly take 3 months to color up although I have seen one or two take up to 7 months.
GOULDIAN COLOR CODE CHART
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Head Color
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Breast / Chest Color
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Back Color
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RH = Red Head
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PB = Purple Breast
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NB = Normal Back
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BH = Black Head
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WB = White Breast
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YB = Yellow Back
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OH = Orange Head
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LB = Lilac Breast
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DB = Dilute Back
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BB = Blue Back
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DBB = Dilute Blue Back
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SB = Silver Back
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Click on a Gouldian Finch Mutation below to see a photo!
Price List:
NORMAL (GREEN) BACK GOULDIANS
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Mutation
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Price Per Pair
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$160.00 Pair
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$160.00 Pair
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$160.00 Pair
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*PB-NB Gouldians Sold individually:
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$85.00 Each (Male or Female)
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$180.00 Pair
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$180.00 Pair
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$180.00 Pair
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*WB-NB Gouldians Sold individually:
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$95.00 Each (Male or Female)
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DILUTE (SF YELLOW) BACK GOULDIANS
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Mutation
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Price Each
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$90.00 Each Males Only!
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BH-PB-DB
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$90.00 Each Males Only!
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$90.00 Each Males Only!
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YELLOW BACK GOULDIANS
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Mutation
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Price Per Pair
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RH-PB-YB
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$210.00 Pair
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BH-PB-YB
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$210.00 Pair
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$210.00 Pair
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*PB-YB Gouldians Sold individually:
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$110.00
Each (Male or Female)
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RH-WB-YB
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$250.00 Pair
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BH-WB-YB
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$250.00 Pair
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OH-WB-YB
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$250.00 Pair
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*WB-YB Gouldians Sold individually:
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$125.00
Each (Male or Female)
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BLUE BACKED GOULDIANS
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Mutation
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Price Per Pair
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RH-PB-BB
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$400.00 Pair
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$400.00 Pair
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*PB-BB Gouldians Sold individually:
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$200.00 Each (Male or Female)
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RH-WB-BB
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$400.00 Pair
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$400.00 Pair
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*WB-BB Gouldians Sold individually:
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$200.00 Each (Male or Female)
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DILUTE BLUE BACK GOULDIANS
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Mutation
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Price Each
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RH-PB-DBB
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$90.00 Each Males Only!
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BH-PB-DBB
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$90.00 Each Males Only!
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SILVER BACK GOULDIANS
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Mutation
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Price Per Pair
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RH-PB-SB
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$500.00 Pair
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BH-PB-SB
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$500.00 Pair
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*PB-BB Gouldians Sold individually:
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$250.00 Each (Male or Female)
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RH-WB-SB
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$600.00 Pair
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BH-WB-SB
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$600.00 Pair
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*WB-BB Gouldians Sold individually:
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$300.00 Each (Male or Female)
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