Diamond Firetail vs Red-eared Firetail

Diamond Firetail

Stagonopleura guttata

Small18 gWoodland

The diamond firetail is one of the largest of the Australian finches by both weight (15–19 g) and wingspan (64–71 mm). eBird describes the firetail having an olive back and grey head. The belly and throat are white with a complete black band. The flanks are black with distinctive white spots. The rump is bright red and the tip of the tail is black. The rump is also described as scarlet by some authors. Juvenile diamond firetails are duller than the adults and have a black bill. The rump is very distinctive in flight. Voice: The Slater Field Guide notes the voice is a penetrating twoo-hee or pain, while the Australian Bird Guide describes the contact call as a "drawn out, mournful whistle like descending call of black-eared cuckoo, though typically disyllabic, with first syllable ascending and second descending". They are generally silent in flight.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Niko Ioannidis · 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: Diamond Firetail and Red-eared Firetail.