That Bird Blog – Bird Care and History for Pet Birds

Please see Part I of this article for information on zebra finch natural history and the story of its entry into the pet trade.

An Avian Lab Mouse

The zebra finch is one of our most important laboratory animals, so much so that researchers have christened it the “Avian Lab Mouse“.  Each year studies of zebra finches provide valuable insights into many aspects of human health, genetics and speech and brain development.

One particularly interesting group of zebra finch studies illustrated how a bird’s early experiences influence behaviors that are not put into practice until maturity is reached.  It seems that zebra finch chicks which are placed under the care of Bengalese finches overwhelmingly prefer Bengalese finches to zebra finches as mates once they mature.  The adopted birds also sing the song of the Bengalese finch, not that of their own species.  These findings have led to other studies with direct bearing on the process of learning and language acquisition in humans.

Please see my articles on Zebra Finch Research  for further information.

Zebra Finches as Pets

Zebra finches make great pets…their care in captivity is very similar to that of related species.  Please see my article on Nuns, Munias and Mannikins  for details.

The National Institutes of Health has posted an interesting article on the importance of zebra finches as experimental animals at http://science.education.nih.gov/AnimalResearch.nsf/Story1/Can+Zebra+Finches+Tell+Us+How+We+Learn+to+Talk+-+and+Walk.

The zebra finch is so well known that it needs little introduction in terms of appearance and captive care.  However, the details of its entry into the pet trade, importance as a laboratory subject and fascinating natural history are often overlooked.  Please read on…you might be pleasantly surprised at the stories behind this pert little pet trade staple.

A Lesser Known Zebra Finch from Timor

There are actually two distinct races of zebra finches.  The nominate race, (the first to be described scientifically) was brought to the attention of European taxonomists in 1817.  Known as the Timor zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata guttata, it is native to Timor and other of Indonesia’s Lesser Sunda Islands, which lie in the Timor Sea about 250 miles north of Australia.  Only rarely seen in captivity, this bird is much smaller than the Australian subspecies, and its song is more complex

The Australian Zebra Finch Enters the Pet Trade

The Australian race, T. g. castenosis, was described in 1838 and was imported into Europe shortly thereafter.  An immediate avicultural hit, the zebra finch was being bred regularly in Germany by 1872 and was featured in bird shows in England and elsewhere by the early 1900’s.  The new arrival proved easy to breed, and importations from the Australia slowed down considerably by 1915.

In 1962, Australia imposed severe restrictions on the export of native wildlife…few if any wild zebra finches have entered the pet trade since that time.  By 1969, it was estimated that approximately 80 generations had been produced in captivity without the addition of “wild” genes, leading many to consider the zebra finch as a largely “domesticated” species.

Natural Range and Habitat

Zebra finches are among the most common and widely distributed of Australia’s birds, being absent only from tropical Cape York Peninsula in the north and along portions of the southern and eastern coasts.

Although most at home on the dry, largely treeless grasslands of the interior, zebra finches have adapted to human presence and readily colonize overgrown fields, scrub, farms, ranches and gardens.  Indeed, the presence of wells and other artificial water sources has resulted in significant range expansions.  Their kidneys are extremely efficient at removing moisture from food, and they are even able to drink brackish water, a facility that enables this hardy finch to survive in salt marsh habitats.

Reproduction in the Wild

The zebra finches’ breeding biology is tied to rainfall and temperature, and varies greatly across its vast range.  Populations in the center of the continent can breed whenever the unpredictable rains arrive, regardless of the season.  Breeding is tied to temperature in the east and southeast, where rainfall is regular and predictable.  In southern and southwestern Australia, the winter rains are heavy and would destroy the nests, and the summers are extremely hot.  Breeding is therefore limited to the relatively brief intervals of warm weather and light rainfall.

Zebra finches are as adaptable in nesting behavior as they are in the timing of their breeding.  Nests have been found in trees and tree hollows, shrubs, mounds of dead grass, on the ground, within the nests of termites and larger birds and even below ground in rabbit tunnels.  These enterprising little birds will also adopt artificial nest sites, and often set up house-keeping in spaces under the eves and roofs of houses, and in abandoned or open barns and other structures.

Further Reading

A very interesting account of personal observations of zebra finches and other Australian birds in the wild is posted at http://www.zebrafink.de/en/zfinf-au.htm.