Stagonopleura guttata

Geographic Range

Diamond firetails are found from east-central to southeastern Australia, from the Carnarvon Ranges in Queensland to the Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island in South Australia.

• Biogeographic Regions
• australian australian
  • native native

Habitat

Diamond firetails are commonly found in grassy eucalypt woodlands, along rivers and creeks, occasionally in open forests, and sometimes in agricultural areas.

• Habitat Regions
• temperate temperate
• terrestrial terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• savanna or grassland savanna or grassland
• forest forest
• scrub forest scrub forest

• Other Habitat Features
• agricultural agricultural
• riparian riparian

Physical Description

Adult males are brown above the wings, on the wings, and on the rump. The upper tail converts are a bright crimson while the tail feathers, forehead, and the crown of the head are black. The hind neck is ash gray, lores are black, throat white, the forehead and flanks are black. They have a white breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts. The bill and iris are red, while the legs and feet are dark gray. Adult females are usually smaller than males but are similar in appearance except that females have a narrow black band on the forehead and paler lores.

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• male larger
• sexes colored or patterned differently

Reproduction

Diamond firetails often take time to accept a mate, but are loyal to their partner once the pair has bonded. This makes defending a mate rarely a problem. It is unknown how they select a mate, but some speculate that males choose a female based on how colorful her feathers are. During courtship a male holds a long piece of grass in his beak and bobs up and down while puffing out his chest. While the male is bobbing he emits a long raspy sound. If the female does not fly away while the male is performing this display, copulation will follow.

• Mating System
• monogamous monogamous

Diamond firetails generally breed twice a year. They breed in the spring and then again in the fall. They do not breed in exceptionally hot or cold weather. The breeding season for diamond firetails is from August to January. During this time individuals build a nest with an entrance tube up to 15 cm long. Nests are lined with fine grass and feathers and are usually located in trees or shrubs with dense foliage, or high in trees, often under hawk or raven nests. Females lay between four and nine eggs per clutch, and both parents incubate the eggs for 13 days on average. Diamond firetail young fledge at about thirty days. The young become independent two weeks after fledging. Juveniles gain their adult coloring fairly quickly and can breed after nine months.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• seasonal breeding seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual
• oviparous oviparous

Males generally gather nest materials and females build nests. Both male and female parents take turns brooding the eggs. During daylight hours, each parent sits on the nest for approximately one and a half hours at a time. Often, when the male returns to the nest to relieve the female, he brings a present of a blade of grass or even a feather. At night, both the male and the female sit together in the nest. The young generally eat only half ripe seeds. When the young beg for food they lay their neck flat on the nest floor and turn only the gape upwards. During this begging, the chicks bills are wide open and their heads move from side to side in a lively manner.

• Parental Investment
• altricial altricial
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • male
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • male
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• pre-independence
  • provisioning
    • male
    • female
  • protecting
    • male

Lifespan/Longevity

Both in and out of captivity diamond firetails live for five to seven years.

Behavior

Diamond firetails are commonly found in groups of five to forty birds. Sometimes they live in mixed flocks with other grass finches. They are sometimes viewed as somewhat aggressive birds. Diamond firetails are generally social birds but there is no known social hierarchy. These birds are more often seen on the ground in search of food than in the air. Their flight is strong and at times slightly undulating. When they are flushed from the ground their wings often “whirr” loudly.

• Key Behaviors
• flies
• diurnal diurnal
• motile motile
• sedentary sedentary
• social social

Home Range

The range for individual diamond firetails is not known and there is no indication that this species is territorial.

Communication and Perception

Diamond firetails have two calls: a “twooo-heeee” which is a contact call, and “tay tay tay” which is an alarm call. Their song is often described as a series of low-pitched, raspy, “buzzy” notes. When the young are just beginning to communicate the often learn the calls by mimicking their parents.

• Communication Channels
• visual visual
• acoustic acoustic

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Diamond firetails are granivorous, feeding primarily on ripe and partly ripe seeds of grasses and herbs. Diamond firetails also feed on green leaves of grasses and herbs, and on insects, especially during the breeding season.

• Primary Diet
• herbivore herbivore
  • granivore granivore

• Animal Foods
• insects

• Plant Foods
• leaves
• seeds, grains, and nuts

Predation

Hawks, owls, pied currowongs , humans, and other birds are all predators of diamond firetails.

Ecosystem Roles

Diamond firetails feed on various grasses, herbs, and seeds and can act as seed disperses of the plants they feed on. They are also prey to hawks, owls and currowongs, although they do not constitute a significant portion of these predators diets.

• Ecosystem Impact
• disperses seeds

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Diamond firetails are commonly kept as pets. They can be of interest to tourists and conservationists because of their beauty and because they are an endangered species found only in Australia.

• Positive Impacts
• pet trade pet trade
• ecotourism ecotourism

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

The only known adverse effects of the diamond firetail on humans is that they are occasionally seen as crop pests.

• Negative Impacts
• crop pest

Conservation Status

The invasion of exotic grasses within the range of diamond firetails has made these areas more suitable for competing red-browed finches , which has put many of the diamond firetail populations at a disadvantage. Much of the land that diamond firetails once inhabited is turning into farmland which is reducing their numbers. As a result, this species now lives in restricted and scattered subpopulations, many of which continue to decline. They are commonly kept in captivity. The criteria that is used to determine their status is unknown. The IUCN considers diamond firetails endangered.

Other Comments

This is the only species of firetail to be kept in zoos.

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Tanya Dewey (editor), Animal Diversity Web.

Alex Gardner (author), Kalamazoo College, Ann Fraser (editor, instructor), Kalamazoo College.

References

Barker, R., W. Vestjens. 1990. The Food of Australian Birds . Lyneham, ACT: CSIRO Australia.

Blakers, M. 1984. The Atlas of Australian Birds . Carlton, Vic: Melbourne University Press.

Department of Environment and Conservaton (NSW), 2005. "Diamond firetail - profile" (On-line). DEC | NSW threatened species - Diamond Firetail. Accessed October 15, 2006 at http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/profile.aspx?id=10768 .

Frauca, H. 1974. Australian Birds . Sydney: Australian Universities Press Pty. Ltd.

Garnett, S. 1992. The action plan for Australian birds . Australia: Canberra : Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, 1992.

Harris, C. 2006. "Finches" (On-line). Wikipedia. Accessed October 14, 2006 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finch .

Hill, R. 1968. Australian Birds . New York: Funk & Wagnalls.

Macdonald, J. 1973. Birds of Australia : a Summary of Information . London: Witherby.

National Parks and Wildlife Service, 2004. "Diamond Firetail - vulnerable species listing" (On-line). National Parks and Wildlife Service. Accessed October 14, 2006 at http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/Diamond+firetail+-+vulnerable+species+listing .

Slater, P., P. Slater, R. Slater. 1993. The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds . Sydney: Lansdowne.

Stattersfield, A., D. Capper. 2000. Stagonopleura guttata . Pp. 685 in Threatened Birds of the World , Vol. Volume 1, 1st Edition. Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions.

Weiner, J. 1994. The Beak of the Finch . New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

el Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, D. Christie. 1992. Birds. Pp. 36-65 in Handbook of the Birds of the World , Vol. Volume 1, 1st Edition. Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions.