Society Finch

Looks how to spot one

Feathered; small munia with a short, thick seed-cracking bill

A compact little bird, a touch bigger than a zebra finch, with a stout grey bill and a neat pointed tail. The classic colouring is a rich chocolate brown with a darker tail and a softly scalloped pattern on the chest and belly, but many birds are patched with white in unique pied patterns. Cocks and hens look the same, so owners usually tell them apart by the male's song and his little bobbing courtship dance.352

Personality what they are like

Society finches are calm, cheerful and very sociable. They love company, preening each other and squeezing together to sleep, and rarely squabble with cage mates. They are busy, hopping from perch to perch and chattering softly all day. Although very used to living with people, they prefer to be watched rather than handled.6351

Daily activity how busy a day looks

Active little birds that exercise by flying and hopping, so they should stay fully flighted. Place perches so the birds have to fly or jump between them, and give them room to move freely rather than climbing.65

Grooming and care the hands-on bits

Very little hands-on care is needed. Offer a shallow bath dish, as they enjoy bathing a couple of times a week, and keep perches, food and water dishes clean. Avoid wing clipping so they can fly.56

Home where they are happiest

Choose a wide, horizontal cage or an indoor aviary, since finches fly from side to side rather than climb. One veterinary guide suggests a minimum of about 35 cm (14 in) square for a single pair, and bigger is better. Nest boxes or baskets are welcome, because society finches like to roost in them together. They also do well in mixed aviaries with other gentle small birds.563

Food basics what goes in the bowl

Seed eaters by nature. Feed a base of small millets and canary seed or a finch pellet, and add fresh dark leafy greens, some vegetables and fruit, egg food, grit and clean water every day. Many will also crack housefly pupae like seeds, which helps when they are raising chicks.5641

Company who they like around

Should never be kept alone. They are usually sold and kept in pairs, and they do very well in small groups or in a community aviary with other peaceful finches of a similar size.65

The story where it all began

The society finch was made by people, not found in nature. Its wild ancestor, the white-rumped munia, lives across tropical Asia from India to southern China. Chinese bird keepers probably began breeding tame munias by around 1700. One research account dates the first recorded shipment of munias to Japan to 1763, when they were brought from the port of Zhapu in Zhejiang, China, to Nagasaki. More birds followed during a boom in Japanese bird keeping between 1804 and 1829. Japanese breeders then spent about 250 years selecting birds for easy breeding, good fostering and new plumage colours, and some families became known for their own strains, such as white birds with dark wings. Europe got its first birds from Japan in the 1860s, and London Zoo received specimens around 1860. Europeans called them Bengalese finches because they wrongly thought the white birds came from India. In North America they became known as society finches, a name that reflects their close, sociable flocking. Today they are kept all over the world as pets, as foster parents in finch breeding, and as a well-studied research bird in the science of birdsong.75124

Recognised by the official bits

National Finch and Softbill Society (NFSS, USA)

Listed in the society's species guide as the Bengalese or Society finch, a domesticated hybrid bred in Japan for around 250 years.4

IUCN Red List (wild ancestor)

The wild white-rumped munia, Lonchura striata, is rated Least Concern. The society finch itself is a domestic form and is not assessed.2