The Ecology of the Zebra Finch Makes It a Great Laboratory Model but an Outlier amongst Passerine Birds

Abstract

Zebra Finches have become the most widely researched bird species outside of those used in agricultural production. Their adoption as the avian model of choice is largely down to a number of characteristics that make them easy to obtain and use in captivity. The main point of our paper is that the very characteristics that make the Zebra Finch a highly amenable laboratory model species mean that it is by definition different from many other passerine birds, and therefore not a good general model for many research areas. The Zebra Finch is likely to be particularly resilient to the effects of stress early in life, and is likely to show great flexibility in dealing with a wide variety of conditions later in life. Whilst it is tempting for researchers to turn to species such as the Zebra Finch, that can be the focus of manipulative work in the laboratory, we caution that the findings of such studies may confound our understanding of general avian biology. The Zebra Finch will remain an excellent species for laboratory work, and our paper should help to direct and interpret future work in the laboratory and the field.

Effects of Heat Waves During Post-natal Development on Mitochondrial and Whole Body Physiology: An Experimental Study in Zebra Finches

“…In summary, our study provides no evidence that exposure to high nest temperature during the neonatal period has any subsequent effect on growth rate, mass, and whole-body metabolic and hygric physiology of zebra finch chicks during any of the three phases of thermoregulatory development. These results may reflect the natural history of the species (Griffith et al, 2021). Yet, there is an impact on T b and on ROUTINE and LEAK mitochondrial function for endothermic birds, consistent with responses to oxidative damage and life-history tradeoffs (Tan et al, 2010;Hood et al, 2018a,b).…”

Effects of Night Illumination on Behavior, Body Mass and Learning in Male Zebra Finches

“…Similar studies on learning and memory would increase the focus on higher brain function. For these purposes, zebra finches would be an excellent model, as it is diurnal, breeds in laboratory condition and many studies have used zebra finches to understand behaviouoral biology, reproductive biology, and physiology [28].…”

“…Zebra finches are diurnal and highly social avian species that can breed well in the laboratory conditions and show all behavioral responses in captivity such as feeding, perch hopping and reproductive behavior [13,26,27]. It is an excellent model to study behavior and physiology and widely used for understanding highly focused and mechanistic questions [28]. We designed the present study similar to Batra et al, (2019) [17] in which only females are subjected to 5 lux of dim light at night.…”

Zebra finch song is a very short-range signal in the wild: evidence from an integrated approach

“…The most studied functions of birdsong are mate attraction and territory advertisement, yet song can also have more subtle functions affecting daily behavioral routines and decisions among pair members, the wider neighborhood, and socially relevant individuals in groups ( Snijders and Naguib 2017 ). One of the main model bird species is the Australian zebra finch ( Taeniopygia guttata castanotis ), providing the primary avian model organism in laboratory studies world-wide ( Griffith and Buchanan 2010 ; Griffith et al 2021 ). Zebra finches have been key in studies on mate choice ( Slater et al 1988 ; Riebel 2009 ; Kniel et al 2015 ), long term effects of early developmental stress ( Spencer et al 2005 ; Monaghan et al 2012 ; Honarmand et al 2015 ), and specifically are a textbook model for the physiology, neurobiology and genetics of the song system ( Haesler et al 2004 ; Gil et al 2006 ; Warren et al 2010 ; Ma et al 2020 ) including song development and learning ( Slater et al 1988 ; Kriengwatana et al 2016 ; Hauber et al 2021 ; Tchernichovski et al 2021 ).…”