Poephila

Poephila is an Australian genus of estrildid finches.

Poephila
Long-tailed finch, Poephila acuticauda
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Estrildidae
Genus: Poephila
Gould, 1842.[1]
Species

See text

The adults have pinkish underparts, buff or brown upperparts, a black tail and lower belly, and white rumps uppertail coverts and undertail coverts. Males and females closely resemble each other, although the male is a little larger.

These are birds of dry open grassland, occurring from the north-west to the eastern coast of Australia. They glean seed from the ground or seed-heads of grasses, occasionally supplementing their diet with insects.

Taxonomy

The first description was presented to the Linnean Society by John Gould. and published in 1842. He assigned the species Poephila acuticauda as the type, a description he had published several years before as Amadina acuticauda, and gave a description for Poephila personata.[1]

Species

The genus is recognised as containing the following species:

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
Masked finchPoephila personatanorthern Australia, from the Kimberley, across the Top End, the Gulf country and the southern part of Cape York Peninsula, as far east as Chillagoe
Long-tailed finchPoephila acuticaudaAustralia, from the Kimberley region to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Black-throated finchPoephila cinctanorth-east Australia from Cape York Peninsula to central Queensland

References
  1. Gould, J. (1842). "On New Species of Birds from Australia". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. Academic Press, [etc.] 10 (1842): 17–21.
  • Clement, Harris and Davis, Finches and Sparrows ISBN 0-7136-8017-2
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