Scientific name:
Taeniopygia guttata

Natural spread:
Australia

the Australian zebra-finch is one about. 11 cm long and approximately 12 g easy small-bird, who owes its name of the zebra-drawing of the breast and the black-and-white Schwanzbänderung. While the female is to be recognized only by its tear-line and the mentioned Schwanzbänderung, the all-year splendor-dress of the male shows cheek-stains additionally, a horizontal black-and-white Kehlstreifung, that changes into a wide breast-bond, and knows dabbed brown flanks. It is the pale-orange Schabel of the female moreover more powerfully red with the male, and it lets its loud Balzgesang heard all-year.

Relationship: Zebra-finches belong to the "splendor-finches", who (Estrildidae) are spread over Africa (south from the Sahara) and Madagascar, south and southeast-Asia with approximately 130 types in 49 "types" as far as after New Guinea, Australia and many islands Ozeaniens; the splendor-finches on the other hand belong with numerous other "families" (Z). B. the real finch, titmice, ravens, swallows, "weavers" etc.) to the "Ordung" of the sparrow-birds as well as. "Subordination" of the "Singvögel." From human view, splendor-finches distinguish themselves however less through splendid chant as rather through its usually splendid plumage. therefore the name. From the zebra-finch, there are two subtypes: This us known Australian zebra-finch corresponds Taeniopygia guttata castanotis largely our wild-colored gray color-hit, iris red, at which one can recognize the wild bird easily on photos, still has that shining, however. The first discovered "Nominatrasse" on (Taeniopygia guttata guttata) the small Sundainseln and neighbor-islands north of Australia is somewhat smaller, possesses a much narrower breast-tape and a hardly distinctive zebra-drawing of the breast. One assumes that the island-zebra-finches came from Australia once.

Spread: The zebra-finch is the farthest widespread on the "fifth" or "red continent", as Australia is also named, by all the splendor-finch: Apart from the tropical rain-forests and coasts of the northeast, that populates cold and moist coastlines in the south and the closed forest-areas in the east in the winter, it the whole continent. This has reasons: As steppe-bird, it comes quite right with the merciless dryness and even the deep temperatures of the continental Australian climate, as long as not more final under about. 6° Celsius, for brooding about. 12°C, sinks; however, it avoids wetness: In the tropical north, this is too extreme so that it must avoid it in the rain-time southward, in the south however fells the necessary rain only in the winter, if it is too cold for brooding. What zebra-finches need, moderate precipitations like it are occur at the beginning and end of the rain-time and above all in the rainless outback. Since sometimes very irregularly not at all the rain there, however!) falls, the zebra-finch had to himself it through all-year combination and brood-willingness and high mobility adjusts: it begins perform courtship display with it already after the first rain showers, there already little later the grass seeds bloom and produce; and if the rain lets wait for itself too long, it must look for it. This behavior corresponds to that of the budgerigar, with whom it shares the habitat, and makes it in captivity so easily for züchtbar: Since the brood-conditions are all-year ideal with good attitude, it would breed also the whole Jahrlang the most dearly!

Eating: Although zebra-finches make do long without water, they are to always be found in the Australian bush near the few water-places, however. An ideal adaptation to this situation is the "Saugtrinken": The birds don't scoop waters for minutes by lifting the beak again and again and letting the water stream into the throat so: Instead they dip in the beak only shortly, suck powerfully several times and immediately then take off again; Hardly any chance remains Freßfeinden so! A zebra-finch must spend much time with the forage: it eats above all grass-seeds that it either tears individually from the heads or aufpickt from the ground. In the incubation, also insects are carried off at the ground and in the air.

Social-behavior: Zebra-finches don't live individually but socially in swarms of 50.100 animals, that consist of small-groups of few pairs on the other hand. Partners hold among each other and with the young body-contact, only the males in the splendor-dress hold distance to each other. The birds brood in colonies, in which only the immediate surroundings of the nest is defended as precinct.

Brood-behavior: Sexually mature zebra-finches verpaaren itself for the whole life, only the death of the partner leads to renewed pair-formation. During the nest-construction, wild zebra-finches show a polished performs courtship display with different postures, spins, bows and jumps and the chant-stanzas of the male; finally, the female with vertically vibrating tail asks for the combination. In view of the usually sparse and low vegetation of its steppe-habitats (= living spaces), the zebra-finch cannot be choosy with the election of a Nistplatzes: it broods in the thorny Gezweig of trees and shrubs, in tree-caves and sometimes even in Erdhöhlen! The male shows a location, that this then accepts, with particular calls of its partner. or also not. The spherical nest is built by the male mainly from grass-stalks and is padded with soft grass and bloom-fuzz and finally feathers and wool. The lateral opening, that is protected through a short entrance-tube, is typical. The nest consists of usually five white eggs, that are incubated by both partners; after 12,5 to 16 days, the nestlings, that are fed again by both parents and leave the nest for the first time after at least 22 days, hatch within 36 hours. The squabs gray at first still color themselves fast about and is independent in the age of five to six weeks, although the parents still often feed it for some time.

Sources: www.zebrafink.de