Fun Masked Finch Facts For Kids

The masked finch is a type of brown bird that belongs to the animal kingdom. The masked grass finch, better known as the masked finch, is a tropical bird that is often found in regions of northern Australia from just north of Derby in the state of Western Australia to the Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland.These regions are mainly dry savannahs with water bodies around. The masked finch (Poephila personata) is 4.9-5.3 in (12.5–13.5 cm) long. The male is larger than the female but both sexes are otherwise similar. This finch is yellowish buff-brown on the upper half and on top of the head and paler on the bottom half. They are long-tailed and white-eared. Its body is equipped with a white rump. Masked finches have a prominent black mark on the flanks and the face has a huge black covering that almost resembles a black face mask.

Keep on reading to learn more interesting facts about the masked finch. For more relatable content, check out these blue jay facts and whiskered treeswift facts for kids.

What type of animal is a masked finch?

This long-tailed masked finch is a type of brown bird that belongs to the animal kingdom.

What class of animal does a masked finch belong to?

The masked finch belongs to the Aves class of the Animalia kingdom.

How many masked finches are there in the world?

The population size of the masked finch (Poephila personata) is unknown we have not been able to provide an exact number of these birds that exist in the world today.

Where does a masked finch live?

The masked grass finch, better known as the masked finch, is a tropical bird that is often found in regions of northern Australia from just north of Derby in the state of Western Australia to the Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland as these regions are mainly dry savannahs with water bodies around.

What is a masked finch's habitat?

The masked grass finch prefers a dry habitat. This brown bird can be found in regions with dry savannah vegetation and close to water bodies. It is popular in regions of northern Australia from just north of Derby in the state of Western Australia to the Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland. The diet of these finches consists of leafy greens, kale, bok choy, endive, silverbeet, and seed mix.

Who do masked finches live with?

Masked finches are difficult to spot. Masked finches are a highly extroverted species and they love to socialize, mix and stay with other flocks or colonies consisting of a large number of similar species like the eastern subspecies (P. personata leucotis), red masked finch, black-masked grass finch, and doves. They are rarely seen on their own apart from the breeding season. These birds just like other masked finches are monogamous in nature and prefer to stay in pairs with the same partner throughout their lives.

How long does a masked finch live?

In the wild, the masked finch (Poephila personata) lives for an average of seven to eight years in its preferred habitat.

How do they reproduce?

Masked finches are monogamous birds that prefer to stay in pairs and are always found in twos during the breeding season. These birds tend to stay with the same partner throughout the year. Male finches generally attract the female with a type of pigment on their heads. The male grass finch has also been spotted feeding the females with food in order to receive their approval. The black-masked finch lays six white eggs and the incubation period lasts for 14 days. The parents play a very important role in the birth of the chicks. Both the male and masked finch female incubate the egg or eggs. The young juvenile bird may begin to venture outside four weeks after hatching from the egg.

What is their conservation status?

Masked finches have been listed as a Least Concern species. Their distribution over the years has been continuously declining across their territories. These mask finches are on the top of the red list of their species.

What do masked finches look like?

The masked finch (Poephila personata) is 4.9-5.3 in (12.5–13.5 cm) long. The male is larger than the female but the sexes are otherwise similar. It is yellowish buff-brown on the upper half and on top of the head and paler on the bottom half. Its body is equipped with a white rump. Masked finches have a prominent black mark on the flanks and the face has a huge black covering that almost resembles a black face mask. These birds are white-eared and has heavy yellow beak called a bill. This bird is long-tailed with dark shades of black on the tail. Its cheeks are white and round. It even has bright red feet.

Like saffron finches, masked finches are adorable small birds. Their white little cheeks can be spotted from far away. These birds are great to take photos of and a collection of masked finch pics is worth observing. These birds are so cute that masked finch photos often find themselves on the surface of Aves or bird magazines.

How do they communicate?

Masked finches usually call out a warbling tune before the sun sets and also just after the sun rises. This song becomes the loudest and clearest near breeding and courtship times. These birds are great communicators through body language. Their body posture says a lot about what they want to do.

How big is a masked finch?

The masked finch size is only 4.9-5.3 in (12.5–13.5 cm) long. However, the masked finch wingspan is 7.9-9.8 in (20-25 cm). These birds are larger than the P. personata leucotis and in the same range as the Gouldian finch.

How fast can a masked finch fly?

There is no specific data available that can tell us how fast a masked finch can fly. However, they are known for their masked finch sweep which is them darting across the aviary and back in quick sweeps.

How much does a masked finch weigh?

A masked grass finch is a small bird and weighs around 0.5 oz (13 g). However, the weight of the bird does depend on the sex of the bird. The male weighs more than the female. They are smaller than house finches and red finches.

What are the male and female names of the species?

There are no specific names for male or female grass finches. Images of masked grass finch are quite popular on the web.

What would you call a baby masked finch?

There is no specific name given to the baby grass finch. However, they may be called hatchlings since they hatch from an egg.

What do they eat?

These finches are herbivores and they do not eat any kind of live food. The common diet of this bird includes a collection of small seeds such as mustard seeds, berries, buds, grains, and wheat. They also may feed on the weed seed of dandelion and nettle. You might think they eat insects since they prefer living near water bodies but they do not eat any kind of live food and only relish dry feed full of small seeds and nuts that are mostly found on the ground. They migrate across regions to find food.

Are they dangerous?

When the masked grass finch (Poephila personata) sense danger, they may show signs of aggression like biting or attacking others of their own species or in their own colony by plucking their feathers. However, it is rare for them to hurt humans.

Would they make a good pet?

These Aves can be great pets as they are chirpy, happy, and lively. However, these birds are quite difficult to take care of since their habitat is not very common

Did you know...

The white-eared finch is a subspecies of the grass finch. These birds are not very common to spot. They can be seen on top of trees and these birds work as seed dispersers and pollinators.

Masked finches do not eat any kind of live food.

The nest built by these masked grass finch is a small nest with an entrance hole. They use long leaves like tussock grasses and weave them into a round shape to start off the nest construction. They use coarse grass for the outer layer nest and softer grass for lining the interior of the nest together with a large number of white feathers. Their nest construction procedure is like no other species. These mask finches carefully lay their eggs in this nest.

The masked finch song is a very melodious one which is the loudest during the breeding season.

The grass masked finch eggs are a soft white color incubated by both the parents.

Do masked finches migrate?

Yes, they do migrate but only during the rainy season. They usually return as soon when it is dry in their territories. The primary reason these birds migrate is for food. Usually, during the rainy season around August, their diet can not be found near them. This is why they migrate across several regions in search of food.

Are masked finches endangered?

These birds have an extremely large distribution and do not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other birds from our chaffinch interesting facts and flycatcher surprising facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable green warbler finch coloring pages.