Long-tailed Finch Poephila acuticauda Scientific name definitions

15·5 cm; 10·9-17·2 g (hecki). Male nominate race has forehead to nape and face pale bluish-grey, lores black, hindneck buffy brown, mantle , back and upperwing brown, lower back with band of black, rump and uppertail-coverts white, long pointed tail black; chin to upper breast black, lower breast and belly pale buff with pink to salmon tinge, black patch on rear flanks, undertail-coverts white; iris dark brown, eyering grey; bill yellow; legs reddish-pink to orange or coral-red. Female is very like male, but often has slightly less black on breast. Juvenile is paler than adult, throat dark grey, flank patch dark grey, bill black. Race <em>hecki</em> differs from nominate in having crown darker grey, belly darker, bill orange to red (plumage paler and bill coral-red in SE of range).

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Dry grassy savanna country with watercourses, grassy bushland, and Pandanus savanna.

Resident. Local movements occur, flocks of thousands appearing near water during extended drought; ringing recoveries to 15 km.

Ripe and half-ripe seeds of grasses, especially those of Sorghum, Iseilema, Eragrostis and Eriachne obtusa; also adult and larval insects, especially in breeding season. Forages mostly on ground, taking both seeds growing on the stem and those fallen on the ground; captures aerial insects by sally-striking. Forages in pairs and in small flocks of up to c. 20 individuals; often associates with P. personata, Hooded Parrots (Psephotellus dissimilis) and Black-faced Woodswallows (Artamus cinereus). In tests with captive individuals, present species was likely to dominate interactions with Chloebia gouldiae and showed higher levels of aggression while competing for access to food (1 Brazill-Boast, J. (2013). Competition for resources mediated by intrinsic social dominance in sympatric finches. Ibis. 155(1): 189-193. Close ).

Soft contact call "tet", loud distance contact call a descending "peew" or "we-wooooh", a whistling "thwirr"; alarm a rapid rising "cheek-chee-chee-cheek"; adults have 14 (nominate race) or 15 (hecki) distinct calls. Song soft, audible at close range, used in courtship before copulation, consists of short introductory notes, then a series of louder pure notes rising in pitch from first to last, "tu-tu-tu-tu-tu wóó-wáh-wéééé".; harmonics vary with male's distance from a mate.

Breeds in wet season and post-wet season, eggs recorded in Feb–Nov. Nests in loose colonies, generally no more than one nest in each tree. One record of young male, 4 months after leaving nest, helping its parents in caring for another brood (2 van Rooij, E.P. and Griffith, S.C. (2009). First record of cooperative breeding in an Australian estrildid, the Long-tailed Finch (Poephila acuticauda). Emu 109: 63-65. Close ). In courtship display, male holds head up, often with grass in bill, bobs up and down, bending and straightening legs; in second stage of display, he fluffs feathers of head and raises rear feathers of black bib, bobs head and wipes bill. Nest bulky and rounded, with entrance tube, made from grasses, creepers and stems, lined with feathers, plant wool or fine grass (sometimes charcoal placed in nest), built in tree (usually in treetop branches, several metres above ground), bush or creeper, or in clump of grass; will use nestboxes. Clutch 3–6 eggs; incubation 13–14 days; nestling (both races) has skin pink to black, sparse light grey down, gape-flange unswollen bluish-white to white, oral surfaces with elongate black spots outlined in black (between pink skin and whitish gape-flange) and inside mouth lined above and below with a black mark, palate yellowish-white with long narrow black bar, behind this two small black spots connected by black bar on raised whitish ridge, tongue with two spots or a band (perhaps changing with age), and a black V-mark under tongue; nestling period 21 days; young independent 21 days later. In a study in the Kimberley region, pairs produced up to three successful broods per season, with an average of c. 3∙9 fledged young per successful nest; however, 66% of breeding attempts failed to fledge any offspring (3 van Rooij, E.P. and Griffith, S.C. (2011). Breeding ecology of an Australian estrildid, the Long-tailed Finch (Poephila acuticauda). Emu. 111: 297–303. Close ). Both parents contribute to incubation, and brooding and feeding during the nestling period (3 van Rooij, E.P. and Griffith, S.C. (2011). Breeding ecology of an Australian estrildid, the Long-tailed Finch (Poephila acuticauda). Emu. 111: 297–303. Close ).

Not globally threatened. Fairly common to locally common. In N Northern Territory, recorded densities of 0·16-0·24 birds/ha at Howards Peninsula, 0·56 birds/ha at Yinberrie Hills (NW of Katherine) and 0·05 birds/ha at South Alligator R. In the past, large numbers were trapped for trade, e.g. 3968 exported from Western Australia in 1957–1958 and 2403 in first half of 1959; in Kimberley Division, legal trapping ceased in 1986.