Zebra Finch Taeniopygia guttata Scientific name definitions

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Zebra Finch (Lesser Sundas)

10 cm; 10 g. Male has top of head and upperparts grey, rump white, uppertail-coverts black with white bars, tail blackish; ear-coverts orange to light chestnut, at loral area a teardrop-shaped vertical white patch narrowly margined with black; chin to side of throat and upper breast grey, black breastband tapering at ends, lower breast to belly and undertail-coverts creamy-buff, flanks chestnut with white spots; iris deep reddish-­orange, eyering grey; bill orange-red to orange; legs pink. Differs from slightly larger T. castanotis mainly in lack of black bars on throat and breast, smaller black breastband tapered (not broad) at ends, creamy-buff (not white) lower underparts. Female lacks chestnut on ear-coverts and flanks, has ear-coverts , breast and flanks unmarked grey (little or no breastband); bill orange-red to orange, normally paler than in male. Juvenile is like female but paler, white teardrop indistinctly bordered black, bill black.

Zebra Finch (Australian)

10·5 cm; 9·4-15·7 g. Male has top of head and upperparts grey, rump white, very long uppertail-coverts black with white bars, almost covering blackish tail; from loral area a teardrop-shaped vertical white patch narrowly margined with black, ear-coverts orange to light chestnut; chin to side of throat and upper breast grey with fine blackish bars, black breastband broad at ends, lower breast to belly and undertail-coverts white, flanks chestnut with white spots; iris dark reddish-orange, eyering grey; bill orange to red or deep red-brown; legs orange to pinkish. Female lacks chestnut on ear-coverts, bars and band on underparts and chestnut flanks; bill normally slightly paler orange. Juvenile is like female but paler, white teardrop on face indistinctly bordered black, bill black, turning orange by 35 days, eyering grey, iris dark brown.

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Zebra Finch (Lesser Sundas)

Zebra Finch (Australian)

• Double-barred x Zebra Finch (hybrid) Stizoptera bichenovii x Taeniopygia guttata

Zebra Finch (Lesser Sundas)

Lesser Sundas from Lombok and Sumbawa E to Luang and Sermata, S to Sumba, Sawu, Dao, Roti, Semau and Timor.

Zebra Finch (Australian)

Most of mainland Australia.

Zebra Finch (Lesser Sundas)

Grassland with scattered shrubs and trees, grassy woodland, dry coastal grassland and cultivated areas, rice fields; low coastal regions, following cultivation and grassland into montane elevations. Sea-level to 2300 m; to 600 m on Lombok and 500 m on Sumbawa.

Zebra Finch (Australian)

Grassland with scattered trees and shrubs, open sclerophyll woodland and open shrublands, generally near fresh water; mostly in arid zone, locally common in semi-arid zone, uncommon in subhumid zone.

Zebra Finch (Lesser Sundas)

Little information; evidently locally nomadic. One record from Bali.

Zebra Finch (Australian)

Mainly resident, with some seasonal movement; also nomadic, moves about over large region, and movements into new areas occur with rain. Present all year in habitat with plenty of grass seed; in areas with irregular rainfall may be irruptive when conditions suitable for breeding, then disappear in following seasons and years. At one site, only two of 5000 birds ringed were recovered at a distance, both within 6 km of site (where recaptures most likely to occur). Colony-specific distance calls from one region sometimes heard in other nesting areas, providing evidence of breeding dispersal.

Zebra Finch (Lesser Sundas)

Grass seeds, taken mainly on the ground . Forages singly and in pairs, also in flocks of up to 100 or more individuals.

Zebra Finch (Australian)

Half-ripe and ripe seeds of grasses, both native and introduced. Nestling diet almost entirely half-ripe grass seeds, rarely insects, e.g. termites (Isoptera). Takes seeds from stems or from ground , and takes growing tips of grass shoots. Occasionally catches insects in air. Social, foraging in flocks throughout year: in breeding season typically in small to medium-sized flocks, but sometimes in larger gatherings; flocks of 500 or more individuals usually only in non-breeding season; however, a study in the arid zone of New South Wales found that individuals most commonly foraged, watered and travelled around the colonies in groups of two, usually male and female, or in groups of 3–10 individuals (1 McCowan, L.S.C., Mariette, M.M. and Griffith, S.C. (2015). The size and composition of social groups in the wild zebra finch. Emu. 115(3): 191–198. Close ). Occasionally mixes with other estrildids. When nesting, regularly travels up to 1 km daily between nest and feeding area; in non-breeding season may travel back and forth many kilometres between feeding sites and surface water.

Zebra Finch (Lesser Sundas)

Loud distance call "beep", higher in pitch (loud band 2·4 kHz) than that of T. castanotis (1·2 kHz). Song a chattering trill, longer than song of T. castanotis, has longer elements and more elements in a repeating phrase, and is faster and higher in pitch.

Zebra Finch (Australian)

Twelve call types described; best known are distance contact call, "nyii nyii", "tia" or "beep", nasal like a toy trumpet, differing between sexes and among individuals, and soft "tet" as contact call when birds moving about. Song composed of nasal call notes and chattering trills, beginning with a few "beep" notes and leading into complex rhythmic song; each male gives song elements and phrases in a set sequence, and these include calls given in other contexts; a male varies the elements and repetitions in groups or "chunks", and songs are characteristic of individual males.

Zebra Finch (Lesser Sundas)

Nest-building in Nov on Timor, and eggs in Mar and Apr on Roti; monsoon rains in these areas bring new cycle of ripening grass seeds in c. Dec–May. In courtship, male perches upright, head erect, fluffs feathers of forehead, belly and flanks, swings body from side to side and keeps head towards female as he sings; display similar to that of T. castanotis, but posture more upright and forehead feathers (not those of back of head, as in T. castanotis) are raised. Little other information: nesting apparently similar to that of T. castanotis, and nestling skin colour, natal down and mouth like those of latter; young independent at 40 days.

Zebra Finch (Australian)

Timing varies with latitude, seasonal temperature and rainfall, begins a month or two after onset of rains (and timed to coincide with fresh growth of grass and development of growing grass seeds): in warm areas where grasses grow and produce seed when it rains, breeding can occur at any time of year; in more temperate areas with warm and cold seasons (where grasses cannot respond in the cold), breeds mainly in warm months Sept/Oct–Apr; in inland C Australia (Alice Springs), did not breed at all during a dry spell lasting for longer than a year, but when rains fell continuously the species bred repeatedly for months on end (after first flush of seeding grasses). Monogamous, with long-lasting pair-bond; female sometimes copulates with a second male, as well as with her social mate (c. 10% of her broods fathered by two males). Usually in loose colonies of up to c. 50 nests, but generally many more adults present (up to c. 230 during breeding season, to 350 in non-breeding season), often several breeding nests in one bush; occasionally solitary. In first stage of courtship, male flies towards female, perches upright with body parallel to her, and in greeting display he adopts horizontal posture, twists head and tail towards mate and bows towards her as he hops and pivots ever closer, she may join in a dance in which partners hop around each other, each keeping head and tail twisted towards the other; in second stage, male perches upright, head erect, and begins a song and dance, he fluffs feathers of belly, flanks and ear-coverts, sings, with legs flexed, swings body from side to side and keeps head toward female as he beams song to her. Male brings nest material and both sexes incorporate it into nest, a bulky and rounded structure with side entrance, made from dry grass, lined with fine, soft material, placed in thorny shrub or tree. Clutch usually 4–6 eggs; female sometimes lays an egg in nest of another pair (13–32% of wild nests); incubation from fourth egg, period 11–14 days; nestling skin pink, with sparse down on head and back, gape white, slightly swollen, constricted in middle, a black line inside swelling, upper line extends forward to bill tip, lower line less than half-way to tip, palate pinkish-white to yellowish-white with three rounded spots and two short arcs behind them, arcs open anteriorly, tongue with two black dorsal spots and below it a black crescent; nestling period 17–18 days; young feed themselves by 35 days after hatching. Juvenile first gives subsong at 28–50 days, and at 80 days of age some sing adult song and breed in the wild.

Zebra Finch (Lesser Sundas)

Not globally threatened. Locally common to uncommon. Occurs throughout most of Lesser Sundas, from Lombok E to Sermata, including smaller islands of Padar and Paloe (off Flores), Sawu, Dao, Roti and Simau (all between Sumba and Timor) and, in E of range, Kisar, Leti, Moa, Luang and Sermata. Very common on Komodo and Flores; locally common on Sumba and Timor, and also, at least formerly, on Kisar, Leti, Moa and Luang; uncommon in rest of range.

Zebra Finch (Australian)

Not globally threatened. Widespread and common throughout most of mainland Australia; absent in Cape York Peninsula (N Queensland), scarce or absent in Nullarbor Plain and Great Victoria Desert (Western Australia-South Australia), areas lacking surface water or succulent plants as source of dew, and absent in wet areas in extreme coastal E, SE & SW. Densities highly variable, dependent largely on rainfall; e.g. in NE Queensland (Townsville), means of 3·47 birds/ha in wet season and 2·23 birds/ha in dry season in 1980, but in 1997–8·16/ha in wet season and 1·59/ha in dry; in areas of colonies, 0·7-76 active nests/ha. Widely kept as a cagebird.