The Morphological Identification of Domesticated Zebra Finches, Poephila-Guttata (Passeriformes, Estrilidae), in Australia

Abstract

The zebra finch, Poephila guttata, is a native Australian grassfinch which is used extensively in laboratories of many countries, including Australia. We have compared the morphology of groups of zebra finches from various origins: (1) wild-caught from a population at Bunbartha in northern Victoria; (2) their first-generation offspring which were bred in captivity; (3) fawn colour morphs; (4) white colour morphs; (5) a private collection which included a variety of colour morphs. Birds in groups 3,4 and 5 were considered to be the distant offspring of wild-caught zebra finches. The length of the wing, the head and the tarsus, the width and the depth of the bill, and the weight were measured. All characters, except the width of the bill, differed significantly among the groups. Analyses of variance indicated that head length, tarsus length and bill depth differed significantly between group 1 and groups 3, 4 and 5, but were not significantly different between groups 1 and 2 nor among groups 3,4 and 5. The wild-caught birds and their immediate offspring were larger than those of the colour-morph groups. Discriminant analysis showed that wing length, tarsus length and bill depth were important in classifying individuals into groups. Differences between groups were attributed to the effects of domestication upon birds in aviaries.