Beautiful Firetail vs Red-eared Firetail

Beautiful Firetail

Stagonopleura bella

Tiny14 gShrubland

At 10 to 13 cm (3.9 to 5.1 in) long and weighing 14 g (1⁄2 oz) the beautiful firetail is a small plump bird, slightly smaller than the diamond firetail. 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.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Maria Duynisveld · CC BY 4.0

Red-eared Firetail

Stagonopleura oculata

Tiny13 gShrubland

The red-eared firetail is a small grass-finch with black-barred and white-spotted plumage, distinguished by its scarlet bill, black mask, and bright crimson red patch behind the eye and at the rump. The plumage of the upper parts is olive-brown and the breast is buff-brown, both of which are thinly barred black. White spots appear on the blackish underparts. The female closely resembles the male, except when his colouring intensifies during the breeding season. Voice: Around five separate communication calls of the red-eared firetail had been reported by the late twentieth century. These have been classified in several ways from reports in the field or aviary. Adult vocalisation is distinguished as an identity call, intimate nest-calls, a nest-site call, and a contact or communication call (Pepper, Immelmann) only reported in captives.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: David McCorquodale · CC BY 4.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Beautiful Firetail and Red-eared Firetail.