Neochmia ruficauda
star finch

Star finches, Neochmia ruficauda, are found in the northern parts of Australia. They have been known to live in the New South Wales in the southern part of Australia and as far west as the Coongan River (Cayley, 1935).

Star finches can be found in tall grassy areas near swampy rivers and creeks (Simpson and Day, 1996). They avoid humans (Immelmann, 1935).

Star finches are also called red faced finches because of their bright red faces and colored bodies (Simpson and Day, 1996).

Males have very different coloration from females. Males have a bright red face, duller on the top and yellowish-olive below the head. The chest, flanks, rump and tail have white spots (Simpson and Day, 1996). The wings males are a little more brown that their overall color (Immelmann, 1965).

Females, in contrast, have a much duller face, with bright red showing only on their lores and forehead (Simpson and Day, 1996).

As these birds age, the color of their bodies gets brighter, and they are more distinctively marked (Pizzey, 1980).

Females of this species lay three to five white eggs. Their breeding season is during the months of September and January (Cayley, 1935). They can lay up to seven eggs (Pizzey, 1980).

Their nests are built out of dried grass, lined with feathers and fine grass (Cayley, 1996). Nests are domed, rounded and without an entrance. They are found one to six meters high in tall grass or shrubby trees (Pizzey, 1980).

Females attract males by casually walking around them as if flirting. While doing this, a female carries a long piece of grass in her beak.

If the male bird is intrigued by the female, he courts her by placing a piece of grass in his beak also (Cayley, 1935). At the end of the courtship, the number of times the male bobbs his head up and down increases. While giving his perfomance, he sings his song (Immelmann, 1935).

When copulation takes place, the female quivers her tail. Males may drop the piece of grass during copulation, but some hold onto it (Immelmann, 1935).

These birds communicate by making loud 'sseet' noises (Simpson,1996; Immelmann, 1935).

A mated pair usually stays together when the breeding season is over (Immelmann, 1935).

These birds fly in pairs or in flocks of around 20. As they fly, they make numerous sharp turns and rapid changes of direction (Pizzey, 1980).

Star Finches feed mostly among grass and low vegetation. They eat flying insects (Pizzey, 1980). During their breeding season, they eat flies, flying termites, moths and flying ants. When the dry season has reached its peak and towards its end, they feast on dry seeds on the ground (Immelmann, 1965) and on the heads of rape or spinifex in the process of ripening found on the ground (Clement, 1993).

They drink water from swamps using the same drinking method as pigeons (Immelmann, 1965 and Clement, 1993).

These animals can be bred in captivity, but there is no reason to do so (Immelmann, 1935).

The word rufus means red and cauda means tail (Cayley, 1935). Star finches are alternatively known by the names rufous-tailed finch, red-tailed rinch, and red-faced rinch. In Germany, star finches are called binsenastrild, in French speaking countries, diamant ruficauda or diamant à queue rousse and in Dutch speaking countries, these birds are called Binsenastrild or Roodstaart astrild (Immelmann, 1965).