Beautiful Firetail
Latin Name: Emblema bellum
Other Names: Firetail Finch, Tasmanian Waxbill

Identification Beautiful Firetail
Olive-brown. Red bill; black mask. Crimson rump, uppertail coverts. Barred chest, bold barring on flanks. Male: centre abdomen black. Size 11-13 cm. Juv: duller; bill black.

Voice Beautiful Firetail
Call: Mounful, penetrating whistle 'weeee', in identification. Low pitched 'cherrr-it', in contact. Alarm call a loud 'tup, tup, tup', in triplets. At brooding change over, two or three whistle chirped 'two-ee's' or 'tit-e's'. Song: Cricket like 'caw-caw-caw', in triplets.

Habitat Beautiful Firetail
Thick forest and scrub; often near she-oak and tea-tree thickets.

Distribution Beautiful Firetail
From central coastal New South Wales to southern Victoria and south-eastern South Australia, Kangaroo Island, Tasmania, and Bass Strait islands. In pairs or small parties.

Nest Beautiful Firetail
Shaped like a bottle on its side; composed of thin dried grass, green grass, and a few leaves; placed in thick foliage of a bush or tree.

Breeding Beautiful Firetail
Breeding Season: September to February. Eggs: Five to eight, usually five; white. Incubation 12-14 days, by both sexes. Young fledge in about 21 days.

Aviary Licence Requirements in Qld Beautiful Firetail
Recreational Wildlife licence required.

Aviary Notes Beautiful Firetail
One of the harder birds to keep in an aviary. It is easily stressed and therefore should be housed in a large aviary. This finch is not a real good colony breeder, it is best kept paired up by themselves, because they can get very territorial and upset others of its own kind.

Australian Field Guides

The Field Guide To The Birds Of Australia - Graham Pizzey & Frank Knight Save 33%

Field Guide To Australian Birds - Michael Morcombe Save 22%

What Bird Is That? - Neville Cayley

Simpson & Day Field Guide To The Birds Of Australia - Ken Simpson

The Slater Field Guide To Australian Birds - Peter Slater

Photographic Field Guide To Birds Of Australia - Jim Flegg

Australian Birds: A Concise Photographic Field Guide - Donald & Molly Trounson

A Photographic Guide To Birds Of Australia Peter Rowland