BIRD SPECIES

Diamond Firetail

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Stagonopleura guttata

The Diamond Firetail is a plump, tiny firetail finch species that inhabit Australia.

Other Common Names:
Diamond Firetailed Finch, Diamond Sparrow (misnomer), Diamond Fire-tail, Diamond Finch, Spotted-sided Finch, Spot-sided Finch

It measures about 4 - 5 inches in length, with a wingspan of 10.24 inches and weighs about 17 grams.

The Diamond Firetail has a fiery red bill, eyes and rump. Just below the throat, it has a thick black band that extends horizontally until it reaches the lower part of the wings which are also black with white spots.

There is also a black eye band that starts at the beak and ends right at the eye. Tail is also black. The rest of the wings are a slightly tan, light brown color. Head and back is light gray and its belly and chin are white.

Juveniles look like a gray-brown or dull version of the adults and have black bill, flanks barred gray and white, and a bright red rump.

MUTATIONS INCLUDE:

Fawn - where the dark brown-gray areas of the bird are replaced with a soft brown, and the black feathers become dark brown (sex linked recessive).

Orange-billed or "Yellow" - where the bird has an orange bill, orange rump, and orange eye ring (autosomal recessive).

Isabel - black and red markings remain intact, but the bird otherwise becomes diluted so the head is a pale silver and the back is a gray-brown (sex-linked).

Pastel - the red markings remain vibrant, but the black markings become a pale gray, the tail and head white and the back becomes off-white (autosomal recessive).

Pied - bird has random splashes of white feathering.

CALL: A plaintive, nasal, drawn-out “twoo-hee” and low-pitched, raspy song.

SONG: The males’ song consists of a series of very low-pitched buzzing or raspy calls.

In the wild, they eat ripe or partially ripe fruits and their seeds. They also eat some insects and their larvae.

They spend a significant amount of time on the ground finding seeds and insects.

Open grassy woodlands, farmlands, and grasslands having scattered trees.

Found in eastern Australia from the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, to south- eastern Queensland, often on the slopes of the Great Dividing Range.

Both the male and female build the nest, but only the female does the weaving. It is made of coconut fibers, shredded paper, dried grass, and feathers.

The female lays 4 - 6 eggs and incubates them along with the male for 14 days.

SOURCES:
http://www.finchinfo.com
https://www.singing-wings-aviary.com
https://en.wikipedia.org