 Further support was given in a genetic study published in 2005 showed that the two subspecies of the long-tailed finch were separated from each other by the Kimberley Plateau–Arnhem Land Barrier around 340,000 years ago, and their ancestors diverged from the black-throated finch ("P. cincta") across the Carpentarian Barrier 600 thousand years ago.The Australian Faunal Directory recognises three "Poephila" species, arranged as two subgenera, the population is also separated as two subspecies.This treatment may be summarised as

genus "Poephila"

Common names for the species have been assigned or arisen from usage in aviculture, these include the long-tailed finch or longtail, blackheart finch, shaft-tail finch, orange-billed finch or grassfinch.