The Zebra Finch: the ultimate Australian supermodel

Abstract

Abstract. Today, the Zebra Finch is Australia's most studied bird and the focus of intensive multi-million dollar research projects throughout the world. Here we briefly summarise the history of the Zebra Finch in science and document the way in which studies of this species have proliferated and dominated a number of quite different fields within the biological sciences. The importance of the Zebra Finch is likely to increase still further after the recent publication of its genome sequence -only the second bird to be the focus of such an intensive research effort -and providing an amazing resource for understanding this species and genome evolution more generally. Finally, we highlight the contribution made by the late Richard Zann with his studies of the ecology, physiology and behaviour of the wild Zebra Finch and his tremendous enthusiasm for the species. Richard would have welcomed the status that the Zebra Finch currently enjoys in science, and looked forward to the many exciting research opportunities that this supermodel species will continue to provide in the future.'The Zebra Finch is a small Australian Ploceid which is ideally suitable for laboratory observations. It will nest and rear young in small indoor aviaries. New birds, transported to the laboratory in small boxes, will begin to nest-build and court within minutes of their release into an aviary. There are no seasonal difficulties, as it breeds all through the year. The species is exclusively a seed-eater and the nestlings require no special diet in captivity. The birds are not disturbed by the presence of an unconcealed human observer. ' Desmond Morris (1954; Behaviour 6, 271-322).

Physiological resonance between mates through calls as possible evidence of empathic processes in songbirds

“…Taken together these results constitute the first evidence of physiological resonance solely on acoustic cues in a bird species. The zebra finch is a widely used model in biological sciences (Brainard & Doupe, 2013;Griffith & Buchanan, 2010) and its significance is likely to further increase since the publication of its genome sequence (Warren et al, 2010). The demonstration of physiological resonance and state matching in this bird offers new opportunities to study the neuronal substrates underlying the ability to detect and react to the emotional states of social partners.…”

Commentary: A Bird in the House: The Challenge of Being Ecologically Relevant in Captivity

“…The lack of variability-the controlled conditions of captivity-is one of the main reasons for conducting work on research animals in the laboratory. Controlling for the high level of variation in temperature, humidity and day-length that animals are exposed to in the wild, helps us to understand fundamental questions across the range of fields that have been addressed with the captive zebra finch (Griffith and Buchanan, 2010). We note also that the studies covered in Beaulieu's (2016) commentary demonstrated effects across sets of individuals held under the same conditions, and therefore the reported differences amongst the individuals in each study are still informative.…”

Linking nest predation with brood parasitism in captive zebra finches: a multi-pair study

“…The zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) has become an important model species for studying the evolutionary, genomic and neural control of behaviour (Brenowitz et al 1997;Luo et al 2006;Rutstein et al 2007;Griffith and Buchanan 2010;Hauber et al 2010). The range of social behaviours, including those related to nesting and egg laying, are well characterised in this species (e.g.…”