Zebra Finches on Catylist

[GregH]

Stolen from ABC Catylist Program http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/2994166.htm
There is a video as well

NARRATION
The Zebra Finch has had a meteoric rise to scientific stardom.

Dr Simon Griffith
Zebra Finches were exported from Australia almost from the point of colonization by Europeans.

NARRATION
These little guys are so good at breeding that even a scientist can look after them.

Dr Simon Griffith
So this is a perfect example I have just put these sticks in here a couple of days ago and some straw yesterday and they have laid their first egg.

NARRATION
The Zebra Finch can be found living in the Australian outback... With water and food being scarce, they make the best of the situation when the rains come. Breeding quickly and developing fast when the conditions are right. They are a pretty loyal bird generally only finding a new mate if their partner falls off the perch. Couples look after the chicks together, collect food together and pretty much spend every hour of the day together

Dr Simon Griffith
Zebra Finches are a really good model for actually understanding things about our own mating system we can do experiments to understand how social monogamy works in a bird which actually tell us something about our own pair bond and our own reproductive behaviour.

NARRATION
These Zebra Finch will hone its use of language over the first 60 days of its life.

Dr Simon Griffith
That provides a really good model system for understanding how, how language can be learnt although it's not exactly the same as the kind of language that we see in humans, it's one of the best animal models for the acquisition of language. They've actually been able to identify a number of areas in the brain which are specifically involved in the production of song, it is the nerve centre for the production of song and individuals with very large vocal centres, produce more complex songs.

NARRATION
It’s great to have a voice... when you are constantly under threat. But it’s the songs that these beautiful birds trill to each other that pushes them to super science status.

Dr Simon Griffith
To date just two bird species have had their genome fully sequenced. The first of those is the domestic hen,the Zebra Finch is the first wild bird to have its genome sequenced.

NARRATION
Researchers have recently stumbled on a gene that may be important in breeding behaviour.

Dr Simon Griffith
In humans and Zebra Finches, the ratio between your second and fourth digit is very strongly related to the level of testosterone that you're exposed to during your development. And that will end up explaining why some males are much better at reproducing than others or why females might prefer some than others, simply because of this gene which affects the length of the second and the fourth digit in their feet but more importantly it's related to testosterone which affects pretty much everything about the way an animal behaves. Around the world the Zebra Finch has been the focus of around about eight hundred papers and it's also been the focus of thirty papers in Nature and Science which is the, which are the top leading journals for biology. So it really has had a tremendous impact across a whole variety of fields.

NARRATION
It is for these insights that the Zebra Finch deserves a profile as a great Aussie scientist.

[jusdeb]

Thanks for that Gregh I watched the video over and over , nice to see them in the wild , gawjus little bird .

[finchbreeder]

I saw you. Yes you, the one looking at this 2nd and 4th digits. Sent the link to my trainee scientist, and she wishes to protest the comment that "even a scientist could look after them".
LML

[spanna]

im a trainee scientist and i keep lots more than zebs! though my degrees are related to animals and the environment i guess....

[jusdeb]

Well Im a trainee human being , doubt if Ill ever get a degree anyhoo I reckon the little Zeb is awesome in the wild , a real survivor .

[finchbreeder]

Spanna sounds like you could have, similar qualifications to what my trainee scientist is getting. Hers is a double major in Conservation Biology and Environmental Biology at Murdoch Uni with a minor in Animal Biology. And a lot of grumbling now she has discovered she has to do a unit in Environmental Law. Lots of hard Yakka and little sleep.
LML

[Jayburd]

@ deb
I also am a trainee human being, on the planet I come from I have to study your species' finch keeping tendencies to get a degree

[jusdeb]

crack me up Jay