Double-barred Finch
Stizoptera bichenovii
Small white, gray, and black bird with a white rump and black tail. Adult has a thin black outline around pale face, lending a sort of "Barn Owl" look, as well as a second thin black breast band. Juvenile similar in pattern but dirtier gray. Inhabits open grassy habitats of far northern and eastern Australia, seen typically in pairs or small groups feeding on the ground.
Identification
The double-barred finch is a 10–11 cm long munia-like bird. It has a white face bordered with black, brown upperparts and throat, and white underparts. The throat and underparts are separated by another black line. The wings are patterned in brown and white. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are duller and browner. The subspecies S. b. annulosa differs from the nominate in having a black rather than a white rump.
Taxonomy
The double-barred finch was formally described in 1827 by the naturalists Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield from specimens collected near Shoalwater Bay and Broad Sound in Queensland, Australia. They coined the binomial name Fringilla bichenovii. The species was formerly placed in the genus Taeniopygia. A molecular phylogenetic study of the Estrildidae published in 2020 found that the genus Taeniopygia was not monophyletic. In the reorganization to create monophyletic genera, the double-barred finch was moved to the resurrected genus Stizoptera that had been introduced in 1899 by the American ornithologist Harry C. Oberholser. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek stizō meaning "to tattoo" with pteron meaning "wing". The specific epithet commemorates James Ebenezer Bicheno, a colonial secretary of Van Diemen's Land appointed in September 1842.<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Stizoptera bichenovii
- Authority
- (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Estrildidae
- Genus
- Stizoptera
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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