Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010) and decreasing.
Status LC
Habitat loss and degradation through conversion to pastoral land, burning and increase in density of native woody weeds are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Habits
In pairs or flocks.
Food
Seeds and insects.
Voice
A soft 'tek' in contact, or uttered in flight. A mournful, descending, whistle, 'peew'.
Black-throated Finch (Poephila cincta) [XC436124]
by nick talbot from Coen River, Oyala Thumotang National Park, Queensland, Australia (call)
Black-throated Finch (Poephila cincta) [XC436123]
by Marc Anderson from Coen River, Oyala Thumotang National Park, Queensland, Australia (call)
Nest
Bottle-shaped, composed of dry grasses and lined with feathers, in tall grass, a low bush or a small tree. Occasionally in a hollow limb.
Eggs (Guide)
4 or 5; oval; about 17 x 12 mm. Incubation: about 12 - 14 days; by both sexes.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 21 days.
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Long-tailed Finch (Poephila acuticauda). Subspecies atropygialis has been considered a distinct species, differing morphologically, but the two forms intergrade over a broad area, are nearly identical in song and display behaviour and, in mixed aviaries, show no tendency for assortative mating. In breeding experiments with captives, black rump colour dominant over white, and in some offspring black rump has some white feathers.
Proposed subspecies nigrotecta (described from Chester R, in northern Cape York Peninsula) is a synonym of atropygialis, which varies clinally.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
cincta (Gould, 1837) - Central-eastern Australia from Upper Burdekin - Flinders River Drainage Basins, Qld south to about New South Wales - Qld border and from the coast between Halifax and Moreton Bays, Qld, inland to the upper reaches of the Darling River Drainage Basin and the western slopes of the Great Divide.
atropygialis Diggles, 1876 - Southern and central Cape York Peninsula from Princess Charlotte and Albatross Bays, south and south-west to the upper reaches of the Mitchell River Drainage Basin and south-eastern Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Qld.
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