We have been breeding Gouldian finches for several years. A few weeks ago, I decided to try to get some photos of a parent Gouldian finch feeding one of their young babies. The young finches were a little shy, and here's one of them hiding behind a leaf.

baby Gouldian finch peering through a leaf

back yard at home, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 70-200mm f/4L @188mm, 1/100 sec, f/4, ISO200

These baby finches had only been out of the nest for a week or so, and were still demanding to be fed by their parents. Before too long, I was snapping photos of the father Gouldian finch feeding one of his brood (photo below).

male Gouldian finch feeding a young finch

back yard at home, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 70-200mm f/4L @135mm, 1/100 sec, f/4, ISO200

Here's the same baby Gouldian finch on a perch. We tag all the baby finches with plastic split rings, to allow us to track the age and breeding history of each bird.

baby Gouldian finch

back yard at home, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 70-200mm f/4L @104mm, 1/100 sec, f/5.6, ISO200

While shooting the birds, I took the opportunity to capture some additional photos of the adult birds. Here's an adult male Gouldian finch. The colours on the female birds are similar, but not as vivid.

adult male Gouldian finch

back yard at home, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 70-200mm f/4L @126mm, 1/100 sec, f/4, ISO1250

The bird below is a mutation - it is a double-factor yellow back Gouldian finch that we received from a friend. Apparently this is a recessive gene, so breeding this male with a "normal" Gouldian female would result in "normal" looking Gouldians.

adult male double factor yellow back Gouldian finch

back yard at home, Western Australia
Canon EOS 50D, 70-200mm f/4L @131mm, 1/100 sec, f/4, ISO1000