Beautiful Firetail
Stagonopleura bella· 梅花雀科(2 photos)
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Beautiful Firetail
11.5-13 cm. Sturdy dark finch with red bill, black mask, blue eye-ring, glossy scarlet rump; underparts finely barred black/white; undertail-coverts black. Male: abdomen black. Immature: duller, bill blackish. Pairs, family parties, small autumn-winter flocks: forages near cover. Hops through grass like plump dark mouse; flies to cover with burr of wings, scarlet rump conspicuous. Feeds in seeding saw-sedges; she-oaks, hazel pomaderris, etc.
- Similar Species
- Red-browed Finch.
- Voice
- mournful, drawn-out 'pee-ee-ee', dipping in middle; three high notes end in staccato downward run.
- Habitat
- dense, damp vegetation: coastal heaths; paperbarks; eucalypt forests/woodlands with dense undergrowth; she-oaks, near creeks.
- Breeding
- Sept.-Jan.
- Nest
- bulky, bottle-shaped; of green grass, stems of creepers; lined with plant down, feathers; 1-6 m in dense shrub, tree.
- Eggs
- 4-5 (6); white, oval.
- Range & Status
- mostly coastal se. Aust., from Hunter R. (NSW) to Mt Lofty Ras.-Adelaide Plains-Kangaroo I. (SA). In NSW, inland to Capertee-Blue Mts-Braidwood-ACT; in Vic., inland on lower slopes of Divide, e.g. Yellingbo-L. Eildon-Mt Beauty; in Tas., coastal areas to c. 1000 m on ranges except drier e. woodlands; also Bass Strait islands except King I. Rare to locally common. Sedentary; locally nomadic when not breeding.
- Distribution key to races
- 1. Stagonopleura bella bella 2. Stagonopleura bella interposita 3. Stagonopleura bella samueli
