We think there are problems with both Beaulieu's (2016) perspective on climate and day length, and his treatment and interpretation of corticosterone data from the literature, and we disagree with his main conclusion that laboratory climatic and day length conditions are stressful for zebra finches.īeaulieu (2016) found that the average conditions under which laboratory zebra finches are held is at a temperature of 22.2☌, with a humidity of 45.8% and with 13.8 h a day of light, and concluded that zebra finches “are housed under conditions that would be perceived as a paradoxical season in the wild.” We agree that these conditions are representative of typical conditions in captivity. These findings were based on his consideration of some Australian climate data and the levels of corticosterone reported in a range of published studies. In his recent paper Beaulieu (2016) suggested that the conditions in which zebra finches are housed in research laboratories do not represent conditions in the wild, and may be stressful.

Zebra finch breeding chart