FINCHforum

Hi Guys,

I live in Malta and the temperature around here in Winter is an average of 10degrees. Is it ok for european goldfinches to be kept in an aviary outside at these temperatures?

Thanks,
Alan

LoneWolf93

European goldfinches are supposed to be cold-hardy, so they should do okay if they had enough time to accommodate. Shelter from the wind and high-calorie fatty seeds are also a must, and a heated area would be appreciated.

Icearstorm wrote: LoneWolf93
Shelter from the wind and high-calorie fatty seeds are also a must, and a heated area would be appreciated.

Thanks for the reply Icearstorm! Which are high-calorie fatty seeds? I give them a ready-made mix I buy for goldfinches. Is it enough?

LoneWolf93 - Hi, I've kept European goldfinches in my outdoor aviary for many years. Even though people think it never gets cold in southern California, every year there are several mornings, mostly in January, when it is 3 C at 6 am. My aviary's roof is covered, the back wall and the left side wall are solid wood and on cold and/or rainy days I can close the front and right side with plexi glass panels. My goldfinches have no problem with the cold but they do not like the hot Santa Ana days when the wind comes from the desert.
So I agree that if you can protect your birds from the combination of wet and cold, you should have absolutely no problems with keeping them outside year round.
Hope this helps,
Iso

Forgot to address the food question. Sunflower/safflower seeds, niger, flax, sesame and perilla seeds are all good oily seeds. Since it doesn't get super cold in Malta, be careful how much you feed of these. If it's too much and they gain too much weight, they might not want to breed next spring. Perilla seed should be available where you live. I used to live in Germany and it was available (sold separately) in better pet stores. Here, in the US, it is pretty much unheard of. As far as I know only one company adds it to their siskin mix.
Iso