They’re a member of the tanager family and have behaviour and care requirements that are slightly different to any beginner finch you may have kept.įor starters, you’ll need to level up your aviary before getting a pair of Jacarinis. Jacarini finches are not actually finches.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons Jacarini Finch Despite being challenging to acquire, once you’ve got their housing and feeding requirements just right they will breed readily and consistently. Like most species on this list, strawberry finches require year-round access to livefood and extra in the breeding season. They’re a little bit fragile, so don’t house them with anything overly boisterous or aggressive. These striking little finches do very well in a mixed collection. Photo credit: Derek Keats Red Strawberry Finch Male melba finches will attack any other finch that has a red face, such as star finches and red-faced parrotfinches. Melba finches have all the attributes of an intermediate finch: They’re difficult to find, they’re worth a couple of hundred dollars a pair, they require livefood throughout the year, and they have very specific aggression issues. These are in no particular order of difficulty. They may be hostile towards their own young, therefore requiring a second aviary to allow separation.Īn intermediate finch doesn’t require livefood (such as mealworms and maggots) to survive, but will not achieve optimal breeding results without it.įinches worth between $75 and $200 a pair will be considered “intermediate” for the purposes of this article.

What makes a finch intermediate difficulty?Īn intermediate finch may be territorial or overtly aggressive against some other finches, requiring careful consideration of which species are included in the aviary. These are finches that aren’t especially difficult to keep and breed, but require a few years of experience with the easier species before being attempted. In previous articles, we’ve discussed which finches are best for beginners and which finches are extremely rare and challenging, but we’ve never talked about the finches in between.

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