Painted Firetail

1. Males show a vivid red face and central breast patch; females have red only around the eyes.

2. Both sexes have black underparts with white spots and a cherry-red rump visible in flight.

3. Juveniles are duller overall and lack any red on the face.

These finches are primarily seed-eaters, feeding on a variety of grass seeds, but will also eat insects during the breeding season to provide extra nutrients for their chicks. Painted Firetails breed opportunistically, usually after rainfall, and construct bottle-shaped or domed nests in spinifex clumps or low shrubs. Both parents share incubation and chick-rearing duties. Their calls are loud and harsh compared to other finches, but they are generally less vocal overall. Painted Firetails are social, often forming small flocks, and display acrobatic courtship behaviours such as picking up and dropping twigs

Painted Firetails are found in the arid and semi-arid zones of Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, and South Australia. They prefer rocky hillsides, outcrops, and grasslands with dense spinifex or tussock grasses, and are often seen foraging on the ground for seeds. They are most active at dawn and dusk, especially near water sources, and can sometimes be seen in small flocks outside the breeding season.