How to Care for Jacarini Finches

Written by the Birdsville team. Last updated October 2026.

Jacarini finch care comes down to a quality finch seed mix, plenty of live food and egg and biscuit when breeding, and a planted aviary with dense shrubs to nest in. The jacarini finch, also spelt jakarini and known as the blue-black grassquit, is a small finch from the Americas. Breeding males turn a glossy blue-black and are famous for their jumping display. This guide covers how to care for jacarini finches, from diet and breeding to housing and health, with a full shopping list of the supplies we recommend, delivered Australia-wide by Petsville.

Jacarini Finch Quick Facts

Scientific name: Volatinia jacarina
Also known as: Jakarini Finch, Blue-black Grassquit
Native range: Mexico, Central America and much of South America
Adult length: around 10 cm
Lifespan: commonly around 5 to 7 years
Diet: finch seed mix, maw, live food, egg and biscuit, some greens
Housing: pairs, in a planted aviary with dense shrubs
Clutch: around 2 light blue eggs with reddish dots, incubated for about 12 days
Sexing: breeding males are glossy blue-black, hens are brown
Famous for: the male’s jumping display
Experience level: intermediate

Jacarini Finch Shopping List

Everything in this guide is available from Petsville, which delivers Australia-wide, or in-store at Birdsville in Sydney.

Food

Basic Finch Mix (https://petsville.com.au/products/avigrain-seed-finch-blue-2kg): an everyday base of white French millet, canary seed, Japanese millet and panicum.

Birdsville Blends Finch & Canary (https://petsville.com.au/products/birdsville-blends-finch-canary-500g)
Millet sprays (https://petsville.com.au/products/millet-sprays-mixed-100g)
Shep’s Egg & Biscuit (https://petsville.com.au/products/sheps-egg-biscuit-500g)
Insectivore Rearing Mix (https://petsville.com.au/products/wombaroo-insectivore-rearing-mix-250g)
Vetafarm Insecta-Pro (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-insecta-pro-450g)

Health

Vetafarm Calcivet (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-calcivet-50ml)
Vetafarm Multivet (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-multivet-50ml)
Vetafarm Spark Liquid (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-spark-liquid-50ml)
Shell grit (https://petsville.com.au/products/shell-grit-5kg)
Vetafarm Wormout Gel (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-wormout-gel-50ml)
Avitrol Mite & Lice Spray (https://petsville.com.au/products/fidos-avitrol-bird-mite-and-lice-spray-125ml)

Breeding and Cleaning

Vetafarm Breeding Aid (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-breeding-aid-100ml)
Nesting material, including swamp grass and feathers (https://petsville.com.au/collections/bird-subsrate)
Vetafarm Aviclens (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-aviclens-water-cleanser-100ml)
Vetafarm Avicare disinfectant (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-avicare-rtu-500ml)

Live food and maw seed are available in-store at Birdsville.

Jacarini finch pair, with the glossy blue-black male and brown hen — A jacarini finch pair. The male is glossy blue-black, and the hen is brown.

Jacarini Finches in the Wild

Jacarini finches are native to the Americas, found from Mexico through Central America to much of South America, including Argentina. They live in grassland and cultivated areas, never far from water.

The Jumping Display

Male jacarini finches are famous for their jumping display. To attract a hen, the male leaps straight up from his perch, calling and flashing the white patches under his wings, then drops back down, sometimes many times a minute. It’s one of the most entertaining sights in a finch aviary.

Housing Jacarini Finches

Jacarini finches do best in a planted aviary with dense shrubs, where they feel secure and can nest. Provide perches of different thicknesses, a shallow bath, and separate dishes for seed, grit, live food and water.

Seasonal tip: Jacarini finches come from warm parts of the Americas, so keep them out of draughts in winter and shelter outdoor aviaries from cold southerly winds. In summer, give them shade, a bath, and Vetafarm Spark Liquid (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-spark-liquid-50ml) in the water on very hot days.

Jacarini Finch Diet

Jacarini finches need a quality finch seed mix, live food, egg and biscuit, some greens, grit, vitamins, calcium and fresh water every day.

Seed

A good quality finch mix is important, especially if you want to breed jacarini finches. Our top pick is Birdsville Blends Finch & Canary (https://petsville.com.au/products/birdsville-blends-finch-canary-500g), our biggest selling finch blend. It’s bagged fresh on site with a high turnover, so the seed never sits on a shelf, and buying from the people who mix it means better value. Be wary of many supermarket and chain store mixes, which use low quality grains and filler seed that affect the health and vitality of your birds. If you’re unsure about your seed, ask a bird specialist.

Jacarini finches also like maw seed, available in-store.

Sprouted Seed

Loved by all finches. Clean it thoroughly with Vetafarm Aviclens (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-aviclens-water-cleanser-100ml) to remove bacteria before feeding.

Millet Sprays

Relished by finches. French white or panicum millet sprays are both fine. Buy them on Petsville (https://petsville.com.au/products/millet-sprays-mixed-100g).

Greens

Seeding grasses, endive and chickweed. Jacarini finches aren’t the biggest green eaters, but greens become important in the breeding season.

Live Food

Live food is very important, especially in the breeding season. Feed mealworms, fly pupae and gentles (fly larvae) with some insectivore mix added, such as Insectivore Rearing Mix (https://petsville.com.au/products/wombaroo-insectivore-rearing-mix-250g) or Vetafarm Insecta-Pro (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-insecta-pro-450g). Live food is available in-store at Birdsville.

Egg and Biscuit

A great protein source for jacarini finches, especially when breeding. It can be fed in with the live food. Try Shep’s Egg & Biscuit (https://petsville.com.au/products/sheps-egg-biscuit-500g).

Vitamins

Vitamins in the water are essential to keep your finches in top condition. Vetafarm Multivet (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-multivet-50ml) is a good choice. Vitamins on seed are lost when finches remove the husk.

Calcium and Vitamin D

All birds need a steady supply of calcium for strong bones, healthy feathers and good eggs. We recommend Vetafarm Calcivet (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-calcivet-50ml), a liquid calcium supplement with vitamin D3 that goes in the drinking water. It’s especially important for birds kept indoors or out of direct sunlight, because window glass blocks the UV light birds need to make their own vitamin D. Breeding hens need extra calcium to lay strong eggs.

Grit

Feed a good quality grit mix containing charcoal, crushed cuttlebone, shell, baked egg shell and limestone, such as shell grit (https://petsville.com.au/products/shell-grit-5kg), in its own dish.

Breeding Jacarini Finches

Jacarini finches breed in dense or dried shrubs, and they’re difficult to get breeding in man-made nests. Supply a variety of different sized grasses, twigs, swamp grass, pine needles if you can find them, and white feathers (https://petsville.com.au/collections/bird-subsrate). The cock bird builds most of the nest.

A month before and during breeding, increase the live food, egg and biscuit and greens. The hen lays around 2 light blue eggs with light reddish dots, which hatch after about 12 days. The young leave the nest early, at around 10 days to 2 weeks old, and start feeding themselves about 2 to 3 weeks later. Vetafarm Breeding Aid (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-breeding-aid-100ml) on the seed also helps support fertility and chick growth.

Here’s an important tip from our team. Remove the young from the aviary soon after they start feeding themselves. When the father is ready to breed again, he may attack and even kill them.

Sexing Jacarini Finches

Breeding males are a glossy blue-black all over, while hens are much more brown, with darker streaks on the chest. Immature males look like hens, and adult males can look patchy outside the breeding season, so the easiest time to pick a pair is when the males are in full colour.

Health and Parasite Control

Watch for fluffed up feathers, sitting still and inactive, a dirty vent, or a thin chest where the keel bone sticks out. A sick finch can go downhill within hours. Move it to a small, warm cage straight away, add Spark Liquid to its water, and see an avian vet. For more on finch health, see our Finch Care page (https://birdsville.net.au/pet-bird-advice-and-training/care-sheets/finch-care/).

Worm your jacarini finches every 3 months if they live outdoors, or every 6 months indoors, using Vetafarm Wormout Gel (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-wormout-gel-50ml). Spray birds, nests and the aviary with Avitrol Mite & Lice Spray (https://petsville.com.au/products/fidos-avitrol-bird-mite-and-lice-spray-125ml) every 3 months, avoiding the eyes. Keep new birds separate for 4 to 6 weeks before introducing them, and give them Spark Liquid in their water for the first few days after a move.

Cleaning

Daily: fresh water and seed in clean dishes, blow husks off the seed, and remove old live food and greens.
Weekly: clean the aviary thoroughly.
Monthly: disinfect with Vetafarm Avicare (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-avicare-rtu-500ml), and trim or replace shrubs and old nests after breeding.

Compatibility with Other Finches

Jacarini finches generally get along with other similar sized finches, but males can become territorial in the breeding season, so keep just one pair per aviary. For more on mixing birds, see our Mixing Different Species of Bird page (https://birdsville.net.au/pet-bird-advice-and-training/mixing-different-species-of-bird/).

Jacarini Finch Frequently Asked Questions

What do jacarini finches eat?

A quality finch seed mix such as Birdsville Blends Finch & Canary, plus maw seed, sprouted seed and millet sprays. They’re not big green eaters, but seeding grasses, endive and chickweed matter in the breeding season. Live food such as mealworms and fly pupae, plus egg and biscuit, is very important when breeding.

How do you tell a male jacarini finch from a female?

Breeding males are a glossy blue-black all over, while hens are brown, with darker streaks on the chest. Young males look like hens, and adult males can look patchy outside the breeding season, so the easiest time to pick a pair is when the males are in full colour.

Is a jacarini finch the same as a blue-black grassquit?

Yes. Jacarini finch, also spelt jakarini, is the name Australian keepers use for the blue-black grassquit, Volatinia jacarina. It’s a small seed eating bird from Mexico, Central America and South America, famous for the male’s jumping display.

Why does my jacarini finch jump up and down?

Male jacarini finches perform a jumping display to attract a hen. He leaps straight up from his perch, sometimes many times a minute, calling and flashing the white patches under his wings, then drops back down. It’s one of the most entertaining sights in a finch aviary.

Are jacarini finches hard to breed?

Jacarini finches can be tricky, because they rarely use man-made nests. They prefer dense or dried shrubs, so a planted aviary with plenty of grasses, twigs, swamp grass and white feathers gives the best chance. The hen lays around 2 light blue eggs with reddish dots.

Why should I remove young jacarini finches from the aviary?

Once young jacarini finches are feeding themselves, remove them from the aviary soon after. When the father is ready to breed again, he may attack and even kill his own young. Moving them to their own cage keeps them safe while he starts a new round.

Jacarini Finches and Supplies at Birdsville

Jacarini finches are only occasionally available at Birdsville, 684 Botany Road, Alexandria NSW 2015, servicing the Eastern Suburbs and Inner South Sydney, and they don’t come in often. If you’re hoping to buy one, call us first on (02) 9669 1766 to check. Every product in this guide is available online from Petsville, delivered Australia-wide, or in-store. Live food and maw seed are available in-store. Follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BirdsvilleRosebery/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/petsvillesydney/) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@birdsvillepets) for live updates.

About Birdsville

Birdsville has been trading in Sydney since 1985, and we believe we’re now the oldest bricks and mortar bird shop still open in Australia. Owner Ash brings experience from vet clinics and from zoo keeping at the Rainforest Habitat in Port Douglas, now Wildlife Habitat. We’re a small business that does things in a big way. Nobody tells us how to run things, so we keep our products the best of the best.