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The Bengalese, or Society Finch as it is otherwise known due to its exceptionally sociable nature, is somewhat a mystery in terms of it's history and taxonomy (scientific classification). It is also known as the Japan Sparrow or Japanese Movchen
Finch.

The Bengalese is unique as there is no known counterpart in the wild. This species only seems to exist in captivity and has never existed in the wild, anywhere in the World. So it is assumed that the Bengalese is a domesticated species, rather like breeds of chickens and dogs eg. the Welsummer or Staffordshire Bull Terrier, of which there is also no same species existing in the wild.

The Bengalese's origins began in the Far East, most likely in Japan. Bengalese Finches have been produced by artificial selective breeding over many centuries. They therefore seem to be a fertile hybrid of many Lonchura species, though it is not exactly certain which are it's ancestral species. Suggestions include the 7 subspecies of the Asian Striated, White-backed or Sharptail Munia/Mannikin Lonchura striata.

Striated Munia, Lonchura striata

 

Subspecies which are thought to have been used to breed the Bengalese include: L.s. swinhoei, L.s. acuticauda and L.s. squamicollis. This is due to their close, and occassionally identical, visual similarities. Various other Asian and Indonesian Mannikins, Munias and Nuns are also suggested to have played a part in the hybridisation and thus breeding of the Bengalese Finch. These include the Spice, Scaley-breasted or Nutmeg Finch/Munia/Mannikin, L. punctulata and the Philippine White-breasted, Pictorella, Pectoral or Pectoralis Finch/MuniaMannikin, L. pectoralis.

Spice Finch, Lonchura punctulata	Pictorella Mannikin, Lonchura pectoralis.

Bengalese are believed to have been bred to foster the more difficult Finch species offspring bred at the time ie. as they are hybrids (which are usually infertile), the theory must have been they would pay more attention to rearing than actually breeding themselves.

They were first given their species name, domestica by Linnaeus in 1766. Domestication basically means that the animal survives best (and sometimes only) in captivity, than in the wild, and also that they are different in phenotype (visual appearence) and genotype (genetic make-up) to anything in the wild, even their ancestral species, all of which is true for the Bengalese Finch.

Bengalese Finches were introduced to European aviculture in the 1960s.