Gouldian Finches: Everything About Purchase, Housing, Care, Nutrition, Breeding, and Diseases (Paperback)

by Matthew M. Vriends (Author) "Gouldian finches should never be acquired until the accommodations for them are fully sited, prepared, and furnished (see pages 14 and 15)..." (more)
Key Phrases: yellow bill males, yellow bill females, society finches, South Africa, Animal Farms (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Here's advice and valuable information from a renowned American bird expert on all aspects of feeding, housing, health care, and keeping a happy and healthy Gouldian Finch. Approximately 30 full-color photos and line drawings.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (February 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812045238
• ISBN-13: 978-0812045239
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 6.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #543,776 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This item is part of The Complete Pet Owner's Manual Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good to buy book!!, November 4, 2000

By	pascal haddad (hazmieh Lebanon) - See all my reviews

I found this book very interesting, and providing helpfull information for the average finch keeper. I have been raising and breeding exclusively gouldians for about 13 years now, so I find the genetics section in this book (though not VERY elaborate) of primordial importance. I also liked the vivid description of the nuptial dance, the sound and chirps etc... as well as the pictures. So, if to say, on a scale of ten, 1 being a very silly book and 10 an extensive genetical analyisis and nutritional guide for expert breeders, I give this book a well-earned 7.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, February 13, 2006

By	Jonathan Kopke (Cincinnati, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you've already studied all of the Gouldian Finch information on the Web, and now you're looking for a resource that will be more comprehensive and authoritative, then this is NOT the book for you. A simple Google search will easily unearth more information, and the Gouldians you will read about on the Web are far more robust than the seemingly suicidal birds described in this little volume. In fairness to the author, I'll add that this book was published in 1991, and much of the information on the Web was probably extrapolated from this author's pioneering work.

A more petty grievance about this book is that the author deserved better editing by his publisher. Someone should have renovated all of the awkward sentences, the possessives without apostrophes, and the outright errors, such as where we're instructed to PALPITATE (instead of PALPATE) a bird's belly.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Place To Begin, July 2, 2000

By	J. J. Edwards-davis "jildavis" (Magnetic Island, Queensland Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is one of a series of pet books which do actually tell you most of what you need to know if you want to keep the pets concerned.

For once, I did things the right way round and bought the book BEFORE the birds, and as a result I have learned a number of tips which I hope will make my keeping of these beautiful birds more successful.

The photos are excellent but I query whether the average finch keeper would need quite so much detail on finch genetics - and am left amazed that breeders seem to be going to such lengths to breed all colour out of a finch whose chief attraction, to me at any rate, is its bright plumage!