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 LC    Star Finch* Id (Atlas): 663
    Neochmia ruficauda Endemic

Description (10)
Image of Star Finch
 

Other Names (World)
Star Finch, Red-faced Finch, Red-faced Firetail, Red-tailed Finch, Red-tailed Firetail, Rufous-tailed Finch, Rufous-tailed Firetail

Family
Estrildidae (Waxbills)

Size
11 - 12 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Gould, 1837)

Derivation
Ne-och'-mi-a - Gk, change: ru-fi-caud'-a - L., rufus, red; L., cauda, tail

Abundance (Guide)
R - MC

Rare.

Habitat
Tall grass, lush green vegatation, grass bordering watercourses, rushy margins of swamps.

Range (Guide)
Australia (B) (NB).

Image of Range of Star Finch
 
Tropical northern Australia from the Pilbara, WA to Cape York Peninsula, south through central Queensland, athough now rare over much of Queensland.
 
Rarity Status
View Rarity Status Information

Population
Estimated population is 100,000 - 499,999 (2010) and decreasing.

Status LC
Destruction and degradation of habitat appear to be the main threats.

Probably secure.

See also EPBC Act List of Threatened Fauna for subspecies ruficauda (Eastern and Southern).

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
In pairs or in flocks.

Food
Seeds and flying insects.

Voice
A high, penetrating 'tseit, tseit', given constantly in flight, which in flocks sounds like a musical tinkling. Feeding flocks utter an abrupt, soft 'tsit' to maintain contact.



Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (8)...)

 
Star Finch (Neochmia ruficauda) [XC436594]
     by id from Nifold Plains, Lakefield National Park, Queensland, Australia (call)

 
Star Finch (Neochmia ruficauda) [XC107962]
     by Matthias Feuersenger from Sewage Treatment Plant, Exmouth, Australia (call)

Breeding Season (Guide)
December - May.

J F M A M J J A S O N D
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


Nest
Bottle-shaped, composed of dried grasses, lined with feathers and finer grasses, in a low tree or bush.

Eggs (Guide)
3 - 6; pure white; oval; about 14 x 12 mm. Incubation: 12 - 14 days; by both sexes.

Young
Fledge in 15 - 17 days.

Subspecies
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:

  • ruficauda (Gould, 1837)   -  Central-eastern Qld, from the Burdekin River Drainage, east to the coast between Halifax Bay and Point Curtis and south along the western watershed of the Great Divide, and formerly south to the upper reaches of the Darling River Drainage Basin, New South Wales Liverpool Plains and west to upper eastern Lake Eyre Drainage Basin - population < 50 and may be extinct.
  • clarescens (Hartert, 1899)   -  Central Cape York Peninsula, Qld, from northern Princess Charlotte Bay and Archer River, south to south-eastern Gulf of Carpentaria in the west and round Cooktown - Mossman in the east - population about 5,000.
  • subclarescens (Mathews, 1912)   -  Has three distinct populations in coastal and near-inland drainages of north-western Australia; in north-western Pilbara between Shark Bay and De Grey River, WA; in the lower reaches of the Fitzroy Drainage Basin, western Kimberley Divide, WA; and the coastal plains of Cambridge and Joseph Bonaparte Gulfs, eastern Kimberley Divide, WA through northern NT to south-western Gulf of Carpentaria, round the Roper River and the lower reaches of the McArthur River - population 200,000.



References
See References.

The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9

More... see more information (images, calls, videos etc)


Files:
JPG files for Star Finch (Neochmia ruficauda) - 10 filesMP3 files for Star Finch (Neochmia ruficauda) - 1 files


More Information

BirdLife International

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