Beautiful Indonesian Immigrants

There’s a small flock of a half-dozen or so Java Finches (Padda oryzivora) that visits my front yard and our neighbor’s trees.

They’re a bit on the shy side, so close-up photographs are not easy to come by without a strong telephone lens. But every now and then, they get so engrossed in what they’re doing that I can sneak up on them.

That’s what happened recently when they were feeding on the neighbor’s Octopus Tree (aka Umbrella Tree).  Although they were about 20 feet away, my little Sony digital camera did a good job:

Also known as the Java Sparrow or Java Rice Bird, they originated in Indonesia, and were first introduced here in 1867 (Kauai), then reintroduced in the late 1960s.

Java Finches are handsome birds, but they are considered agricultural pests when they flock in large numbers.

They’re also listed as a vulnerable species, close to becoming endangered.