Java Sparrow

About the Java Sparrow

The Java sparrow (Padda oryzivora; syn. Lonchura oryzivora), also known as the Java finch, Java rice sparrow or Java rice bird, is a small passerine bird. This species in the family Estrildidae is a resident breeding bird in Java, Bali, and Bawean in Indonesia. It is a popular cage bird, and has been introduced into many other countries.

The Java sparrow was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia oryzivora. The specific epithet combines Latin oryza meaning "rice" with -vorus meaning "eating". Linnaeus based his description on the "Padda or Rice-bird" that had been described and illustrated in 1743 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Edwards believed that his specimens had come from China but mentions the common name "Java sparrow".

The species was long classified in the genus Padda, but on the basis of preliminary genetic studies Padda was merged into the genus Lonchura in 2009, before being returned to its older generic status in 2020 following more detailed genetic analysis.

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