zebra finchn.
/ˈzɛbrə fɪn(t)ʃ/, /ˈziːbrə fɪn(t)ʃ/, U.S. /ˈzibrə ˌfɪntʃ/ A small Australasian waxbill with black and white stripes on the face, Taeniopygia guttata (family Estrildidae), popular as a cage bird.Formerly known as Poephila guttata, and sometimes split into two species.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > [noun] > family Estrildidae (wax-bill) > miscellaneous types of
firefinch1783
redhead1816
firetail1845
fire-tailed finch1845
zebra finch1868
magpie finch1869
cut-throat finch1872
melba finch1876
zebra1879
bluebill1955
1868 Express (London) 24 Feb. 2/3 Mr. Underdown, of Adelaide, the exporter of Australian birds to Europe, has now in stock..7,000 pairs of zebra finches.
1899 W. T. Greene Cage-birds 59 The Diamond Sparrow, also an Australian, but inhabiting further south than the Zebra Finch.
1936 C. T. Madigan Central Austral. 103 Flocks of the most typical bird of Central Australia, the pretty little zebra finch, with its husky chirp.
1963 Behaviour 20 170 The frequent presence of both adults in the nest by day..has been reported of wild Zebra Finches.
2012 S. Seung Connectome xi. 190 As a mature adult, a zebra finch sings essentially the same song every time.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1868