Scientific Name:  Poephila guttata
Size:  Small, up to 4.5 inches
Native Region:  Australia
Life Expectancy:  up to 15 years
Noise Level:  Low
Talk/Trick Ability:  None, although will respond to owner’s voice.

One of the most widely bred finches in captivity, a hand-fed zebra finch can be trained to perch on a hand. However, zebra finches will make a cheerful addition to your home. Zebra finches are peaceful birds and do well when kept in pairs or colonies

Althought they are generally a hardy species, young zebra finches can experience egg-binding. Provide your finch a varied diet consisting of seeds, fresh greens like broccoli and Brussels sprouts, cuttlebone and egg food. You can offer zebra finches a mix of equal quantities of white millet, Japanese millet, panicum millet and plain canary seed. Zebra finches require additional food during a molt. The male zebra finch is gray with a black tail and large white bars. Their throat and upper breast is zebra striped, and they have a red beak and vivid orange cheek patches. Female zebra finches are colored similarly to the males, but females do not have the orange cheek patches. A female zebra finch's beak is a paler color than the male’s.