Known as the Society finch in North America and the Bengali finch or Bengalese finch elsewhere, Lonchura striata domestica is a domesticated finch not found in nature. There have been many theories of the origin of domestication for the Bengalese finch, and we now know it took place primarily in Japan. Coloration and behavior were modified through centuries of selection in Asia, then later in Europe and North America.

Since male songbirds create their own songs through learning, each has its own unique variation indicating differences in male quality to the females during courtship. Male courtship songs have multiple components defined by intervals of silence in between them. Components are produced in the same sequence called a chunk and songs are composed of several chunks. The complexity of a song is determined by the number of sequence patterns or components, making a song that occurs in the same order 'simple', and a song with a random order of components 'complex'. The phonological components and complexity of chunks vary from male to male because they learn their own father's song during early developmental years. Therefore, songs are helpful in allowing females to choose a better mate for reproductive success.