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Stagonopleura
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Red-eared Firetail Stagonopleura oculata Scientific name definitions

Robert B. Payne
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2010

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

12 cm; 12–14 g. Male has lores and very narrow area around eye black, bright red patch on ear-coverts; rest of head and upperparts olive-brown to brownish-grey with thin blackish bars (bars less distinct on head), rump and uppertail-coverts bright red, tail grey-brown to grey with blackish barring, outer webs of cenral rectrices have some red near base; throat to breast buff with dark brown scallops, rest of underparts black with large white spots; iris dark brown, prominent eyering pale blue to pale green; bill red; legs pink. Female is like male, but black on lores less extensive, ear patch duller red. Juvenile is brown with thin black bars above, rump and uppertail-coverts red, face brown, throat and underparts buff with brown scallop markings, forming broken bars.

Systematics History

This species and S. bella sometimes placed in separate genus, Zonaeginthus. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

SW Western Australia from Darling Range S to Manjimup and Pemberton, and E along coast to Cape Le Grand National Park and Israelite Bay.

Habitat

Dense shrubby vegetation in cool, wet evergreen forest, especially with jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) and karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor), also coastal heath (Hakea), paperbark (Melaleuca) woodlands, thickets and sclerophyll woodland.

Movement

Resident.

Diet and Foraging

Seeds of grasses, including Lepidosperma, seeds of casuarina (Casuarina); small insects, some spiders (Araneae). Feeds in trees or shrubs, occasionally on ground. Perches on low or fallen branches, pulling seedheads towards itself and holding them under a foot while taking seeds; picks insects from foliage. Exploits the grasses that grow and seed after a forest fire. Forages singly and in pairs, also in family parties.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Calls include loud contact or identity call, "oowee", rising in pitch, given by both sexes (female's with wavering quality), repeated until mate responds; "twit-twit" nest call given when bird approaches nest, and its mate in nest returns call. Song "oooweee ü ü ü ü ü", given when in search of a nesting site.

Breeding

Season Aug–Nov, in good years also Mar–May. Territorial; breeding pair will not tolerate another pair within 100 m. In courtship, male calls as he holds a long piece of grass in bill, when female arrives he jumps back and forth between two branches, his grass swinging from side to side, and jumps until he lands near female, then perches erect, plumage (especially that of belly) fluffed, bill up, and springs up and down like bouncing ball; female quivers tail, male drops grass and pair copulates. Nest a large, bulky, rough oval structure with long entrance spout 30–40 cm, built with green stems and tips, lined with fine grass, plant down and feathers, placed well above ground (as high as 16 m) in shrub or at end of leafy branch. Clutch 3–6 eggs; incubation period 14 days; nestling skin pale pinkish or yellowish, with whitish down, gape swellings conspicuous, white, each with inner black spot, palate pinkish with laterally elongated medial black spot, two long lateral black spots and two small black spots behind them, the five spots joined by a dark line in a diamond-shape (open posteriorly), behind this a pair of contrasting white swellings extending backwards (and lateral to black spots inside upper gape swelling), with whitish curved transverse ridge in mid-line (as in S. guttata), tongue has two spots and a black sublingual crescent; chicks fed by both parents, nestling period 21–24 days; young independent 7–9 days after fledging.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Restricted range species: present in South-west Australia EBA. Uncommon. Extensive clearing of native vegetation in the past led to range contraction around coastal and near-coastal swamps and rivers; for example, was present in Perth area (on Swan R plain) in 19th century, but only a handful of records there in 20th century. In more recent decades, this species is adversely affected by replacement of native jarrah forest with plantations of exotic pines (Pinus); also, breeding disrupted by bauxite-mining in forests. Although forest habitats sometimes threatened by fire, this species is able to benefit from the subsequent growth of grasses in burnt areas.
Distribution of the Red-eared Firetail - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Red-eared Firetail

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Payne, R. B. (2020). Red-eared Firetail (Stagonopleura oculata), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.reefir1.01
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