Zebřička pestrá

Zebřička pestrá

Description

A tiny estrildid finch, just about 10 cm long and weighing 10–15 g. The male is strikingly marked, with orange cheek patches, chestnut flanks dotted with white, black-and-white "zebra" barring across the chest and a bright orange bill; the female is plain grey with a paler beak. It is one of the most widely kept cage birds in the world.

Habitat

Dry grasslands, savanna and scrub across most of inland Australia and the Lesser Sunda Islands. It stays close to water and avoids dense forest and humid coasts.

Diet

Feeds mainly on grass seeds gathered from the ground, adding small insects to its diet during the breeding season.

Reproduction

An opportunistic breeder that nests after heavy rain. Pairs build a domed grass nest; the female lays 4–6 eggs and both parents share incubation for about 12–15 days, with the chicks fledging after roughly three weeks.

Lifespan

Usually 2–3 years in the wild and around 5–7 years in captivity, occasionally longer.

Did you know?

Young males learn their unique song from their father, which has made the zebra finch one of the most important model species for studying learning and memory in the brain.