Masked Finch
Poephila personata
A small brownish bird with a bright yellow bill, black face, black flanks, and a distinctive black tail and white rump. Juveniles similar but duller, with dark bill. Long tail but lacks the long streamers of similar Long-tailed Finch, with which Masked is sometimes found. Inhabits grasslands and grassy woodlands across northern Australia.
Identification
The masked finch is 12.5–13.5 cm long. The male is larger, but the sexes are otherwise similar. It is cinnamon-brown above and paler below with a white rump, black mark on the flanks and black face mask. It has a heavy yellow bill and a pointed black tail. The eastern subspecies P. p. leucotis has whitish cheeks.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Poephila personata
- Authority
- Gould, 1842
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Estrildidae
- Genus
- Poephila
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Pairs or small flocks of masked finches forage through the day, mostly on the ground for grass seeds. In the evenings and early mornings, large numbers—sometimes thousands— can gather around waterholes to drink, cleanse, and preen, flicking their tails sideways and chattering incessantly.<p>Pairs build a domed nest from grasses, lined with fine grass, feathers, and charcoal, in the late wet or early dry season. The nest position varies: it can be as high as 20 metres or simply hidden in long grass. Five to six white eggs are laid.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Bertram's Weaver
Ploceus bertrandi
Fairly large, chunky weaver. Both sexes have a pale eye, an olive back, and yellow underparts. Males have a black face mask, a yellow-orange top of the head, and a black spot on the back of the head. Females have an all-black head. Generally uncommon and local in montane woodland, scrub, and forest edge. Vocalizations are typical of weavers: “chet” notes and a sizzling, “radio static” song. Can be similar to Baglafecht Weaver, but always separated by the black rather than yellow throat.
Plain White-eye
Zosterops hypolais
This small warbler-like bird is unremarkable in appearance, but surely not the plainest of the white-eyes; look for a pale eye with a very narrow white eyering, grayish upperparts, and contrasting pale yellow throat. Endemic to the island of Yap, in the Western Caroline Islands of Micronesia, where it inhabits a wide range of forested and brushy habitats. The only other white-eye on the island, Yap White-eye, is dark olive-brown overall and has a much more prominent eyering. Forages actively in flocks. Gives high-pitched, scratchy trills and chirrups, comparable to parakeet and sparrow calls.
Verreaux's Coua
Coua verreauxi
Long-tailed, tree-dwelling bird with gray upperparts and pale underparts. Bare facial skin is purple and blue. Inquisitive, restless bird that bounces through the trees, often in thick and spiny vegetation. Found locally in southwestern spiny forest at low elevation. Most frequent call is a very dry rasp. Similar to Crested Coua, but unlike the southwestern Crested Coua, has white rather than brick-red undertail. Verreaux’s Coua can also be distinguished by the black tip to its longer and messier crest, and by the lack of orange on the chest.
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