Red Eared Firetail
Latin Name: Emblema oculata
Other Names: Red Eared Finch, Red Eared Firetail Finch

Identification Red Eared Firetail
Olive-brown, finely barred in black. Red bill; crimson rump and uppertail coverts. Small crimson ear patch. Bold white spots on black flanks. Breeding Female: paler ear patch, bill. Size 12-13 cm. Juv: duller; bill black.

Voice Red Eared Firetail
Call & Song: At least five: a mournful 'ooweeo, singly or repeated in series for identification and contact, more quavering in female; 'twit-twit' greeting on approach to nest at change over, answered with 'tweet-tit-tit-tit' from bird within nest; quickly repeated nasal 'cherk' in chase; bursts of six syllabled nasal whistles when searching for nest site; harsh clucking in alarm.

Habitat Red Eared Firetail
Dense coastal forest and scrub, swampy heathlands. Usually in pairs. Food; seeds and insects.

Distribution Red Eared Firetail
Coastal south-western Australia, from the Darling Range to Esperance.

Nest Red Eared Firetail
Well made, bottle shaped, composed of green grasses; usually placed at the extremity of a horizontal branch of a swamp banksia or other bush, at heights up to 15 feet or more from the ground.

Breeding Red Eared Firetail
Breeding Season: September to February. Eggs: Four to six; white. Incubation 14 days, by both sexes. Young fledge in about 21 days.

Breeders Price Guide (Aviary bred pairs) Red Eared Firetail
$?

Aviary Licence Requirements in Qld Red Eared Firetail
'Specialist' Recreational Wildlife licence required.

Aviary Notes Red Eared Firetail
They prefer an aviary that is open. They can be kept in a collection of small seed eaters. They will defend their nest vigorously. Paired up or as a colony. A lot of time is spent on the ground foraging.

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