- Bathilda ruficauda
Neochmia ruficauda
Identification
11cm. Bright red face, olive green upperparts, beige-yellow underbelly. Tiny white star like dots cover the the crown of the head, from around the outer edge of the eyes to the cheeks and extending from the chin to the chest then down the flanks. Hens are duller grey-green with more white stars under the lower mandible and a beige belly. Both sexes have red beaks and dark eyes.
Distribution
Northern Australia.
Taxonomy
This is a polytypic species[1] consisting of 3 subspecies.
Subspecies
- B. r. subclarescens:
- Western and Northern Australia (disjunct Shark Bay to Gulf of Carpenteria)
- B. r. clarescens:
- Northern Queensland (southern Cape York Peninsula)
- B. r. ruficauda:
- Queensland (Burdekin River to far northern New South Wales) Extinct?
Habitat
Tropical swamps, rice and sugar-cane fields, dense scrub, woodland, trees, and in tall grasses near water.
Behaviour
- Diet: Includes white ants, half-ripe and ripe grass seeds, fruit culture flies, and during the breeding season they prefer to eat seeds, rich varieties of insects, and greens.
- Breeding: 3-6 pure white eggs are laid and the young fledge at 21 days.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Star Finch. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Star_Finch
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
