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Chloebia gouldiae
The Gouldian Finch, Erythrura gouldiae (or Chloebia gouldiae), also known as the Lady Gouldian Finch, Gould's Finch or the Rainbow Finch, is a colorful passerine bird endemic to Australia. There is strong evidence of a continuing decline, even at the best-known site near Katherine in the Northern Territory. Large numbers are bred in captivity, particularly in Australia. In the state of South Australia, National Parks & Wildlife Department permit returns in the late 1990s showed that over 13,000 Gouldian Finches were being kept by aviculturists. If extrapolated to an Australia-wide figure this would result in a total of over 100,000 birds. In 1992, it was classified as "Endangered in the wild" under IUCN's criteria C2ai. This was because the viable population size was estimated to be less than 2,500 mature individuals, no permanent subpopulation was known to contain more than 250 mature individuals, and that a continuing decline was observed in the number of mature individuals. It is currently subject to a conservation program.
Spotted in Avifauna, Netherlands
9 Comments
Yes, they make me sad when I see them in the pet stores. You are lucky to see them flying free. :)
wonderful!
fantastic capture pal
colorful!
Beautiful colours, nice pic.
@Claudia, Too bad we know them from the pet store. You'd want them to be free and out there.
Gorgeous. I have only seen them in pet stores. :( Looks like a little piece of candy sitting in the tree.
spectacular
The colour combination on this bird is astonishing!