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Finch-on-se-grape

What kind of crazy artist painted this little guy?

What kind of crazy artist painted this little guy?
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Sep, 2013

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Striking colors.

WOW! Stunning.

Beautiful bird.

Nature did it. This is a male of Chloebia gouldiae, or in the English speaking world, the gouldian finch. I kept many and these are now regarded as domestic birds here in Europe and quite easy to keep and reproduce. Their price ranges from 12 to 30 euros each. In their natural habitat, Australia Queensland, they almost run extinct, however thanks to the more than 50 years of passionate work and efforts made by hobbyists with little or no scientific graduation, these were saved from extinction. This bird was found in Australia by the famous British ornithologist and bird artist John Gould which published many illustrated plates with the help of is wife Elisabeth Gould. John Gould is considered to this day the father of Australian bird study and the Gould League is named after him. John Gould found this species in Australia and described by him in 1844. John Gould named it in honour of is wife Elisabeth Gould, hence the name gouldiae which in the scientific nomenclature means that if a scientific species name ends in the latin letter "ae" which reads "hi", it means that the species was named after a lady or girl, whereas if it had been named gouldii then it would mean named after a man. These are nice and tame birds that can withstand nowadays the less warm climate of Europe and are now a domestic bird like the sparrows. This is a nice photograph in which the bird details are well outlined.