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Glite Dictionary
zebra finch

zebra finch

1 5.6
A small Australian songbird with black and white stripes often kept as a pet
  • noun
  • /ˈziːbrə fɪntʃ/
  • Australian
translation icon : pinzón cebra
  • The children watched in delight as the zebra finch perched on the branch, singing a lovely tune.
  • male zebra finches
  • female zebra finches
  • adult zebra finches

There are birds, zebra finches, where there's highly sexually dimorphic behavior.

Examples

  • In our aviary, a zebra finch flitted about, showing off its striking black-and-white markings.

  • Ma'am, you got a zebra finch over there with a discolored beak.

    The Drowning Pool (1975)

  • The sex differences in the song system of the zebra finch were impressive.

    Academic text (1994)

  • When zebra finch females mated with attractive males, they produced eggs with more growth-promoting hormone.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The zebra finch is often kept as a pet because of its cheerful song and attractive plumage.

Synonyms

Poephila castanotis
vszebra finch
  • Australian
9.9

A small Australian finch with black-and-white markings like a zebra

is the common name used for the same pet and aviary bird

Surface Forms

zebra finch singular
zebra finches plural

Morphology

zebra + finch

The compound is directly compositional: a 'finch' modified by 'zebra' indicates a small songbird with zebra-like (striped) markings, so a learner who knows both words can infer the meaning. This descriptive naming pattern (modifier + species) is cross-linguistically common, making the expression immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.

Etymology

Zebra finch: The name zebra finch comes from the bird's black-and-white markings that look like a zebra, and the word finch means a small singing bird. So the name helps you remember this little Australian pet bird called a 'zebra finch'.