The Bicheno or 'Owl' finch is from northern territories of Australia, inhabiting grass and scrub lands. They have also been seen in more subarban areas including city parks and residential neighbourhoods. There are two distinct subspecies - one with black upper tail coverlets - commonly called the black rumped.  The other subspecies has white upper tail coverlets - commonly called the white rumped. The general colour of the Bicheno's upper body including back and crown of the head are brown with fine dark brown barrings, getting courser as they reach the tail. Their underparts are white with silvery chests and faces.

Their most distinctive marks being two almost black bars one running across the lower chest and the other running below the chin and completely framing their faces. These marks give them their alternative name of Double Bar Finch or Owl Finch.Although the cock and hen are virtually identical subtle differences make it possible for the keen observer to accurately sex this species. The cock stands taller than the hen, having a slightly more vivid colour to the breast-white, this is only really telling when comparing birds of a similar age, as this can change with age. The most reliable way to sex these birds is to place them in a cage by themselves, out of sight of the other birds, but within ear shot. In this environment, the male will should start singing in a short time, where as hens will only use a single note call.Bicheno finches will thrive on a standard finch mix, cuttlebone, oyster shell, fresh water. They also like sprouted seed, greens, egg food, soaked millet sprays and small meal worms and should be afforded a variety of these prior to the breeding period.

The Bicheno finch does well in either a cage or aviary setting. Cages should be at least 15" x 24" x 15" per pair. They thrive in either small colonies or mixed flights, but if mixing them take care to watch that they do not bully the smaller birds such as Zebra finches, it has been known for them to make life too difficult for these. This species spends much of its time on the ground scratching and looking for insects, encourage this by piling woodchip or leaves on the floor of the aviary so they can hunt through it for insects. The Bicheno finch is an active, comical bird that is a joy to watch and one that endears itself very quickly to any birdkeeper.

Bichenos have been successfully bred in small 2’x2’ cages but as with all Australian finches the more space that can be afforded them the better. They form strong bonds with their mates so once they have bonded it is best to keep mates together. Bicheno finches will build freestanding nests but will normally use small nest boxes or wicker baskets. In the wild they construct a dome shaped nest with a short side tunnel entrance.  They will use a variety of nesting materials including soft and coarse grasses and small twigs. They prefer to line their nest with soft feathers, be they their own or plucked from any unlucky passer-by. The female lays between  4-5 eggs, both parents incubate the eggs and feed the young.  It is very wise to increase their protein intake when they are raising young by providing egg food and small meal worms, soaked seed etc.  Eggs hatch after 14 days and fledge at 21 days. The chicks are independent 21 days after fledge.  Sexual maturity is reached at about 6 months but it is best to wait until they are 9-12 months old before breeding them.

Laurance Trigwell

Feel free to get in touch with any further questions. You can contact me via the FF Forum my username is 'Laus'.