Gouldian Finch (Erythrura gouldiae)
What do they eat?
Scaling the tall slender grass stems to access seed heads, their beak is specially designed to extract each individual seed one by one and is equally suited to catching flying termites on the wing. The termites and the finch's primary food source during the breeding season, providing the elevated protein levels required for breeding.
Where do they live?
A highly social bird that bonds together forming large flocks. They inhabit the coastal woodlands from the Kimberly through Arnhem to the western side of Cape York Peninsula. Although once widespread their numbers have declined dramatically. The flocks around the Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape York Peninsula are presumed to have vanished in recent years with the entire range withdrawing by half overall.
Some interesting facts!
Unlike many other finches the Gouldian Finch has poor nest building skills. They are the only Australian finches that nest exclusively in the hollow limbs of trees and inside termite mounds rather than constructing a nest from fibre and grass strands as with many other finches.
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