FINCHforum

Recently I bought 2 European Goldfinches as 1 male and 1 female, however I am not sure if that's the case. I put them in large flight cage but they still want to fight, I had to separate them.
I am thinking they are both males, what do you think?

Males have a slightly brighter red on the face and it covers slightly more area on a male than on the female. They are notoriously difficult to sex but your best bet is to compare the red on the face of the both of them. I

Both of their head is kind of orange but there is some dark red patches showing as you see in the pictures ( around the eye and under the beak), do they get their full red color after the first molt?

Yes, they will do. I will try and send a couple of pictures of mine when I get a chance. Are you planning on breeding them?

I am planning to breed them but I need to confirm if they are male and female. I also have Siberian goldfinches that I assume both are females, the red on their head stop at the half center of the eye.

Hi Zebra,
The masks displayed by your goldfinches indicate a poor diet during their last molt. Goldfinches should be fed dark leafy greens like dandelion, kale, collard, and leaf and romaine lettuce to develop the red mask. Carrots, sweet potatoes and red peppers are great too but getting them to eat those veges is a challenge.
I would also like to ask you what seed mix you are feeding them?

Not sure what they used to eat before I got them, I am providing them with greens, various seed mixes that contains thistle, nyger, sunflower and others rich in fat.

It sounds like they found a good home with you!
In addition to the diet you mention above, providing them with as many ripe dandelion seed heads, dandelion leaves and sow thistle will get them in top condition!
Best of luck with them!

To me bird #1 is a female and bird #2 in the first pics is a male. Can never be 100% sure with goldfinches though. Best way to fi d out is to separate them so they dont see each other and wait for about 1 week or 2 when they start to sing

They are pretty they had some on craigs list for sale here in MA or NH.