Long-tailed Finch

Appearance

The adult Long-tailed Finch is around 15 cm in length. It has a prominent roundish black bib on its throat and upper chest and a long pointed black tail. It has pinkish brown upperparts with paler plumage below its bib over the lower breast and abdomen.

It has a grey head, a white ear-patch, and black lores. It has black patches on its upper flanks and its rump and undertail coverts are white. The beak colour of the adult Long-tailed Finch varies from red through orange to yellow. The subspecies with red beaks is sometimes called Heck's Grass Finch ''Poephila acuticauda hecki'', and the nominate subspecies with orange or yellow beaks is sometimes called the Long-tailed Grass Finch.

Males and females are similar, except the females may be slightly duller and may have a slightly smaller bib. Females have shorter wings and tails than males on average, but their measurements, as well as throat bib size, generally lie within the range of male measurements. Furthermore, male and female plumage is indistinguishable in ultraviolet and visible light.

Status

It inhabits dry savanna habitats in Australia. The status of the species is evaluated as Least Concern, and adapts readily to aviculture.

Habitat

The Long Tailed Finch inhabits open woodland across northern Australia, from Derby east to the Leichhardt River in northern Queensland.

Reproduction

Male Long Tailed Finches approach unfamiliar members of the species and engage in a courtship display, holding themselves in an upright posture and singing, before attempting to mate with the newcomer. Male newcomers will sometimes not declare their sex when confronted by a group of birds. The authors of the study propose this is a survival mechanism to reduce harassment, increase chances of acceptance into the group and hence chances of future reproduction.

The species breeds in natural hollows. Pairs share feeding responsibilities, and there has been one report of birds from older broods helping their parents raise the following brood, the first time that cooperative breeding has been recorded in an Australian estrildid finch. The clutch consists of four to six dull white oval eggs measuring 17 x 12 mm. The incubation period is 13 to 17 days.