Red-browed Finch

Australia has about 18 species of finch but we only have three in Gippsland, the Diamond Finch, the rare Beautiful Firetail, and the quite common Red Browed Finch. The Red-browed Finch, sometimes called the Red-browed Firetail, is distributed in a strip along the southern and eastern seaboard from about the Mt Lofty Ranges in SA to Cape York Peninsula in Q’land. There might be some minor seasonal movements but usually, the red-brow is sedentary.

 

 Like all our finches, red-brows feed mostly on seeding grasses and they can be found in open forests and woodlands adjacent to some open grasslands. In many places, they have readily adapted to urban parks and gardens. There are many images online of groups of red-brows enjoying a garden water bowl. 

Red-browed Finches are very social birds and are nearly always found in small groups. Often, several pairs will nest in the same shrub. They build a spherical nest of grasses and fine twigs with a small entrance in the side. 

I have come across several groups of Red-browed Finches lately and noticed that they are pairing off in preparation for breeding. Even caught a male in mid courtship dance with a grass stem in his beak. 

Here’s a YouTube link that nicely shows the dance.