This species of bird belongs to the Diamond Firetail family, scientifically known as Stagonopleura guttata. It can only be reliably bred by highly skilled breeders who meticulously select its parents who carry the recessive genes responsible for its almost pearly white plumage.

The Diamond Firetail itself is a finch with striking features, including a deep red beak, eyes, and rump. Just below its throat, a prominent black band extends horizontally, continuing to the lower wing sections, which are adorned with black hues and white spots.

Native to southeastern Australia, these birds inhabit regions stretching from the Carnarvon Ranges in Queensland to the Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island in South Australia. They typically reach a size of 10 to 12 cm and weigh approximately 17 grams, a fairly substantial figure compared to the minuscule 4 grams of the smallest finch, the miniature wren.

This bird is one of three species of fire-tailed finch, all of which are native to Australia.

The other two firetail species are the red-eared firetail (Stagonopleura oculata), found in the southwestern corner of Australia, and the beautiful firetail (Stagonopleura bella), native to the southeastern part of the country.

The beautiful firetail, which extends from Newcastle to Kangaroo Island, is also distributed across much of Tasmania. In fact, it is the only species of finch found naturally on the island.

Despite its somewhat simple name, it is incredibly appropriate. With a plump body, broad red beak, sky blue rimmed eyes, and a bright crimson tail, the Beautiful Firetail is a striking species when seen in the wild. Preferring coastal bushland and forests, it can be a difficult bird to locate, but if you are going to find it anywhere, it will probably be near water. And when they gather there, let’s just say they’re not exactly known for their silence.

Australia’s firetail finches may not be officially classified as threatened, but their populations are declining and factors such as habitat loss, predation by feral cats and competition with other native birds such as the pied currawong pose serious threats. The encouraging news is that proactive measures are being implemented to prevent their numbers from further declining to dangerous levels.

Here are more images for the road, because we can’t get over how eye-catching these little tokens are.