The shaft-tail (long-tailed) finch is an elegant, easygoing Australian grassfinch with a pale gray head, black bib, and long central tail feathers. Peaceful and hardy, it is one of the better beginner aviary finches.
ℹ️
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About 15-16 cm (6 in) including the long tail; roughly 14-18 g.
Lifespan
5–10 years
Social needs
group
Native region
Northern Australia (grassy savanna woodlands from the Kimberley across the Top End)
Origin
Old World
Climate
🌴 Tropical
Family
Estrildidae
Genus
Poephila
Part of the Finches
Finches are small, social seed- and insect-eating songbirds kept primarily as aviary and cage birds for their color, song, and lively flocking behavior rather than for handling.
From the minimum an animal needs to be kept humanely, up to the ideal setup. Bigger is almost always better — minimums are floors, not targets.
Photo coming soon
Minimum
Pair finch cage
30 × 18 × 18 in, bar spacing 3/8 in
Australian Heck's grass finch: keep in compatible pairs or small groups. Provide horizontal flight, varied finch seed plus a little soft/live food in breeding season, multiple bathing dishes, and a finch-style covered nest box. Bar spacing must be tight.
Photo coming soon
Recommended
Planted flight cage
48 × 24 × 30 in flight cage with plants
Longer flight with live or silk plants, multiple bathing dishes, and a peaceful single-species or mixed-Australian-finch group. Shaft-tails are calm and breed reliably given space and quiet companions.
Photo coming soon
Ideal
Planted aviary
6 × 3 × 6 ft+ planted aviary
Walk-in planted aviary with frost-free shelter, dense shrubs, ground forage, and compatible Australian finches. Best feather quality, breeding behaviour, and longevity.
Life & growth stages
How this animal changes through its life — each stage often has its own care, diet and space needs.
Photo coming soon
Egg
Birds develop inside a hard-shelled egg incubated by the parent(s). Egg size, shell color, and clutch size vary by species; the embryo develops over days to weeks before hatching.
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Hatchling / Chick
Hatchlings are either altricial — naked, blind, and dependent on parents (typical of parrots and songbirds) — or precocial — downy, mobile, and self-feeding soon after hatching (typical of poultry and waterfowl). Down gives way to the first feathers.
Photo coming soon
Juvenile / Fledgling
Fledglings grow in their juvenile plumage and begin to fly and feed themselves, though they may still beg from parents at first. Juvenile feathering is often duller than the adult and is replaced as the bird matures.
Adult
Adults attain full body size and mature plumage, and are capable of breeding. Many species show distinct adult coloration, and in sexually dimorphic birds males and females differ in plumage, size, or markings.
Color & pattern variants
Natural variants occur in the wild; selectively bred (man-made) variants were developed in captivity.
Natural
representative
Orange-billed (P. a. acuticauda)
Western nominate form with a coral-orange bill.
representative
Yellow-billed (Heck's, P. a. hecki)
Eastern subspecies with a deep yellow to reddish-yellow bill; common in aviculture.
Selectively bred (man-made)
representative
Fawn / Cream / Pied mutations
Several captive color mutations (fawn, cream-ino, pied) have been established by aviculturists.
Habitat & enclosure
A roomy flight cage or aviary suits them best; their long tails need space. Indoors, provide at least about 90-120 cm (3-4 ft) of horizontal flight length for a pair, more for groups. They are warmth-loving Australians: keep them above roughly 15 C (60 F) and protect from frost and damp; outdoor keeping in temperate climates needs a frost-free, draft-free shelter with supplemental heat in winter. Moderate humidity is fine.
Substrate
On flight floors use paper, dust-extracted sand, or fine wood litter that is easy to keep dry. Planted aviaries with grass tussocks and leaf litter encourage natural foraging. Dry, regularly cleaned substrate prevents mold and parasite buildup.
Equipment & setup
Room-temperature indoor keeping needs no UVB or heat lamp, though full-spectrum lighting benefits indoor flights and a thermostatically controlled heater or heat lamp is wise for cool/outdoor setups. Provide varied perches, a shallow bathing dish, seed/grit cups, and half-open nest boxes or wicker baskets for breeding. Rodent- and predator-proof outdoor aviaries.
Diet
Feed a good Australian-finch / mixed-millet seed blend (panicum, plain canary, various millets) with daily spray millet and fresh seeding grasses and greens. Offer egg food and small live food (mini mealworms, fruit flies, termites where available), increasing greatly when rearing chicks. Provide cuttlebone, soluble grit/mineral, and clean water; sprouted seed improves breeding condition.
Behavior & temperament
Calm, friendly, and sociable, shaft-tails are among the most peaceable estrildids and mix well with other gentle finches. Pairs are devoted and often preen one another. They are not hand-tame pets but are confiding and pleasant aviary birds with soft contact calls. Keep in pairs or small colonies; avoid mixing with pushy species.
Health
Hardy when kept warm and dry. Common issues include obesity on seed-only diets, scaly-leg/face mites, air-sac mites, and intestinal worms or coccidiosis in aviaries. Hens can suffer egg-binding if calcium-deficient or chilled, so supply cuttlebone and warmth. Quarantine newcomers and keep floors clean.
Tips, DIY & hacks
Shaft-tails readily nest in half-open boxes or covered baskets lined with grass, coconut fiber, and feathers; they often roost in nests, so leave roosting baskets up year-round. Provide ample live food and egg food when chicks hatch. The orange-billed (acuticauda) and yellow-billed (hecki) forms interbreed freely, so keep lines separate if you wish to maintain pure bill color.
