Families Passeridae, Estrilidae and Fringillidae
Finches are small seed-eating birds with strong conical beaks. All are highly sociable, and most native finches immediately give a long drawn out call when separated from their group. Escaped or isolated birds quickly draw attention to themselves.
The House Sparrow is an Old World sparrow (Family Passeridae) introduced into Australia in 1863. It has spread throughout eastern Australia. So far it has been excluded successfully from Western Australia.
Of the Australian weaver finches (Family Estrildidae), the Double-barred Finch, Red-browed Finch and Diamond Firetail occur naturally around Canberra, and the Zebra Finch (25), a more inland species, is also sometimes seen.
Two members of the Family Fringillidae, the European Goldfinch and European Greenfinch (6), were introduced into Australia in the 1860s, and breed locally, while two other introduced members of the Family, Nutmeg Mannikin (1) and Canary (5) do not, and are aviary escapees.