Diamond Firetail (Stagonopleura guttata)

Description

The Diamond Firetail is a fairly large finch that grows up to 12 cm and weighs 17 g.
Its back, wings, and head are brownish-grey, and its belly is white with a bright red rump.
It has a black band across its neck and around its eyes. It has distinct white spots on its sides. Its beak and eye ring are bright red, and its legs and feet are dark grey.
Males and females look similar, but females have a slightly lighter coloured beak. Juveniles are duller and have grey-black bills.
It breeds from August to January, laying 4-5 eggs in bottle-shaped nests it builds in shrubs or trees.
It feeds on the ground, eating grass and herb seeds, and sometimes eats insects during the breeding season.

The Diamond Firetail is found in the southeastern part of mainland Australia, from southeast Queensland to the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.

In the ACT, the Diamond Firetail lives in small groups and moves around to find seeds to eat. It’s found in habitats that have:

Main threats to the Diamond Firetail include:

Habitat loss from land clearing
The spread of weeds, particularly invasive grasses
Overgrazing by domestic livestock, rabbits and overabundant kangaroos
Competition with Noisy Miners (Manorina melanocephala) and predation by Pied Currawongs (Strepera graculina).

International – Vulnerable (International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List).
National – Vulnerable (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999).
Australian Capital Territory – Vulnerable (Nature Conservation Act 2014).

Conservation aims to protect the Diamond Firetail, including to:

find and protect woodland and grassy habitats it lives in
improve habitat connections by planting native plants
control invasive weeds
reduce heavy grazing by livestock and wildlife
monitor the species over time to see if conservation efforts are working
study how climate change affects the species and its habitat
research the impact of Noisy Miners and Pied Currawongs and manage them as needed.