Aussie Finch Forum

Hi there,

Forgive my ignorance when it comes to these lovely birds but I am curious as to whether nuns, munias, bengalese and societies are the same thing or not?

I am aware they are all the same "species" but I would like to know what defines each one? or are they all the same bird with many different names..

Like I say..please forgive my ignorance...I really like the black headed nuns and just want to get all the knowledge I can to ensure I am able to trace good birds eventually and also just to learn a bit more.

Thanks in advance.

El Feroz

Hi El Feroz
Nuns and munias and manikins are a big group of different species, all belonging to the genus Lonchura. These birds are mainly spread through Asia, Africa and Australia.
The bengalese finch (otherwise known as bengo, society) is a single species.

Some Munia species are:
Black headed nun (Lonchura Malacca Atricapilla)
White headed nun (Lonchura maja)
Tri coloured nun (Lonchura malacca malacca)
Spice finch (Lonchura punctuata)

Manikins are the same thing, but whereas Munia is the name for Asian species, mannikin is the name for African species.
Some mannikin species:
Rufous backed mannikin (Lonchura bicolor nigriceps)
Chestnut breasted mannikin (Lonchura castaneothorax)
Pictorella mannikin (heteromunia pectoralis)

Those last two are actually Australian. We have three native Lonchura species, chestnut, pictorellas and yellow rumps - they seem to vary between the names Munia and mannikin.

So basically, an Asian species = a Munia (we call some of them Nuns)
African species + some Australian species = Mannikin

Bengalese are a totally domesticated species, and we don't know what species they were to start with.

So in short - they're all related, it just depends on where they come from that decides what we call the groups.

Hope you can make some sense of that! And someone correct me if I screwed up too majorly, it's late

Agree with Jayburd.All above species mentioned can be seen in Australian aviaries.There are two other Lonchura species that can be found in Aus and are African Silverbills and Javan Munias.

Jayburd Great description.
I have had most these birds but the white headed nun was one of my favorites, just remember they are all related so be careful putting 2 different types in one aviary, also they do take some time to colour up compared to some other finches.

It is also very important to emphasise that these are all different species and, ideally, and ingeneral, should not be housed together. Crossing the species is called hybridisation and depletes our pure stocks.

Wild Manakins: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI_quJRRGxk

That's just going to confuse matters. The vid is manakin (no relation to any finch), a totally different bird to mannikins in the Lonchura genus. eg. Rufous-backed & Bronze-winged.

Mannikin vs Manakin

See...spelling actually does matter !

Got it! Now, who's got a pair of those for sale?