Long-tailed Finch (Poephila acuticauda) [XC668759]
by id from Holmes, Darwin Municipality, Northern Territory, Australia (begging call)
Long-tailed Finch (Poephila acuticauda) [XC684932]
by Drew Davison from Moth Block (Casuarina Coastal Reserve Land Care Group) (near Tiwi), Darwin Municipality, Northern Territory, Australia (call)
Nest
Bottle-shaped, composed of dried grasses and lined with feathers, in tall grass, a low bush or a palm tree.
Eggs (Guide)
4 or 5; pure white; oval; about 16 x 12 mm. Incubation: about 13 days; by both sexes.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 21 - 24 days.
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Black-throated Finch (Poephila cincta). Subspecies hecki sometimes treated as a separate species on basis of morphology (bill colour) and differences in quantitative genetics (although no genetic comparison made of subspecies of other members of genus), and slight differences exist in songs and loud contact calls. Conversely, other authors have questioned whether two subspecies are taxonomically recognizable, as distribution of yellow-billed and orange-billed birds is continuous across northern Australia, with intergradation in western Northern Territory (and bill-colour differences do not persist in museum specimens). In addition, the two are similar in courtship behaviour, and in captivity individuals with no prior breeding experience do not mate assortatively. Further study is required.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
acuticauda (Gould, 1840) - Kimberley Divide, WA between Dampier Land and the Ord River Drainage Basin, south to Fitzroy River Drainage Basin.
hecki Heinroth, 1900 - From the middle reaches of the Daly and the upper reaches of the Roper River Drainage Basins in Arnhem Land, east to round Leichhardt River, in south-eastern Gulf of carpentaria Drainage Basin, north-western Qld.
Similar Species
Black-throated Finch (Poephila cincta) which has a shorter tail, a black rump and larger black belly stripe and a black bill and Masked Finch (Poephila personata) which has a shorter tail, a brown crown, and a much smaller black 'bib'.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet