Alternative name: Painted Firetail
- Emblema pictum
Identification
Rich brown colour, upper mandible black, the lower red. Chest and belly are black, with white dots. Sexually dimorphic. Males have red in the centre of the breast, a red face and throat. Tails are brown-black. Beaks are long and pointed. Female has less red and larger white spots.
Similar Species
Similar to the Australian firetails of the genus Stagonopleura
Distribution
Australia except the wetter areas.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species which is the only member of its genus.
Habitat
Semi-desert area, grassland & subtropical (lowland) dry grass land.
Behaviour
Vocalisation
These birds identify one another with a mournful, penetrating 'wheeee' whistle and use a low-pitched cherrr-it for their contact call. They sound the alarm with a loud tup, tup, tup call in triplets. Their song is a cricket-like caw-caw-caw, which also come three at a time. The males do an unusual 'metronome dance'.
