The beautiful firetail (''Stagonopleura bella'') is a common species of

estrildid finch Estrildidae, or estrildid finches, is a family of small seed-eating passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They comprise species commonly known as munias, mannikins, firefinches, parrotfinches and waxbills. Despite the word "fi ...

found in Australia. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,000,000 km². The species inhabits temperate

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It ...

habitats in Australia. The IUCN has classified the species as being of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. Th ...

Description

At 10 to 13 cm (4–5 in) long and weighing 14g ( oz) the beautiful firetail is a small plump bird, slightly smaller than the

diamond firetail The diamond firetail (''Stagonopleura guttata'') is a species of estrildid finch that is endemic to Australia. It has a patchy distribution and generally occupies drier forests and grassy woodlands west of the Great Dividing Range from South ...

. Its plumage is mostly olive-brown. The white chest has a fine pattern of dark lines. The head has a black mask with pale blue rings around the eyes and a thick red beak. Its rump is a deep red, its legs and feet are creamy pink. The wings and tail are short and rounded. Juvenile birds are less colourful with a smaller face mask and a blackish beak. The male has a black abdomen.

Distribution and habitat

The beautiful firetail is endemic to Southeastern Australia. Its distribution range extends from

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southw ...

, however, the bird is most prolific in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and off-shore islands. It lives in coastal

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

land, forests and shrubbery, never far from water. Its preference for near water habitats was shown in a study of its occurrence in intact forest areas of the Victorian Central Highlands, where it was almost exclusively found in riparian habitat. The beautiful firetail is considered a

resident bird Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting ...

, keeping close to home.

Behaviour

The beautiful firetail mainly feeds on grass seed and ''

Casuarina ''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fam ...

'' and ''

Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They range in size ...

'' seeds. It can also be found in association with ''

Banksia ericifolia ''Banksia ericifolia'', the heath-leaved banksia, or lantern banksia, is a species of woody shrub of the family Proteaceae native to Australia. It grows in two separate regions of Central and Northern New South Wales east of the Great Divid ...

'' heathland in coastal New South Wales. Small insects and snails occasionally complement this

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthp ...

diet. The birds are usually found in pairs or forming small groups of up to 20 individuals.

Reproduction

In the breeding season lasting from October to January, the beautiful firetail nests in dense foliage near the ground. The nest is made of grass and thin twigs, its insides are covered in feathers. It is bottle-shaped with a long tunnel-like entrance on one side leading to a

spherical A sphere () is a geometrical object that is a three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three-dimensional space.. That given point is the ...

nesting chamber. Both parents build the nest together, brood the five to eight egg clutch for about 20 days, and feed the hatched chicks, which leave the nest after about another 20 days. After another four weeks the chicks are left to their own devices and reach sexual maturity at about nine to twelve months of age.

In popular culture

The Australian "Firetail" wine brand is named after this species.Firetail Shirraz bottle label.

References

External links

Birds in Backyards web page

BirdLife International species factsheetBirdLife Australia profilePhotos, audio and video of beautiful firetail
from

Cornell Lab of Ornithology The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a member-supported unit of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which studies birds and other wildlife. It is housed in the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Sapsucker Woods Sanctuar ...

's Macaulay Library
Recording of beautiful firetail
from Graeme Chapman's sound library {{Taxonbar, from=Q1092100 beautiful firetail Birds of South Australia Birds of Tasmania Birds of Victoria (Australia) Endemic birds of Australia beautiful firetail Taxa named by John Latham (ornithologist)