Red-browed Firetail
Neochmia temporalis
Small waxbill, adult olive green above, gray below, with red eyebrow, red bill, and black tail. In flight, bright red rump apparent. Juvenile with red rump but otherwise olive drab with dark bill. Inhabits grassy areas close to thick cover in eastern and southeastern coastal Australia. Often-heard call is a thin "seeeeep."
Taxonomy
The red-browed finch was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name Fringilla temporalis.It is one of four species in the genus Neochmia. Alternate names include red-browed firetail, Sydney waxbill and redbill.<p>The species was once allied to genus Emblema.There are three noted subspecies: the nominate species N. temporalis temporalis, in most of the east coast, and inland New South Wales and Victoria; N. temporalis minor, which is distinguished by a white breast, in northern New South Wales, and south-east of Australia, and N. temporalis loftyi in the south west corner of South Australia, although the latter is sometimes not listed as a subspecies, as the differences between it and the type species are relatively minor.
- Scientific name
- Neochmia temporalis
- Authority
- (Latham, 1801)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Estrildidae
- Genus
- Neochmia
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
The finch is common in the south east of its range, from Brisbane to Melbourne. Subspecies N. t. minor is common between Cooktown and Townsville. The species is listed as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List. There are no key threatening processes for N. temporalis, although the Pest Animal Control CRC suggests that the introduced nutmeg mannikin (Lonchura punctulata), which currently threatens some native mannikins through increased competition, maybe a minor threat to N. lateralis in northern Queensland.<p>In regional areas, the species needs adequate shrub density to provide cover and foraging places. The species has been noted to decline or even disappear in areas that have been cleared or grazed, especially in combination with drought.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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