Red-browed Finch

Description:

Back and wings olive-green, rump and upper tail coverts crimson, tail dusky brown. Head mid-grey, olive-yellow patch on side of neck, lores and eyebrows crimson. Throat, ear covets and entire underparts pale grey-buff. Eye red-brown. Top and bottom of bill lined black, sides red. Feet flesh-coloured.

Habitat:

Wooroolin Wetlands Queensland. There is an abundant of grasses around this wetland - eg grasses :- Paspalum and Windmill. Herbs include Pennywort, White Root Australian Bindweed. There was still quite a bit of water and the vegetation was lush.

Notes:

This is a male R-b finch. Male has a broad,square-cut brow line, while the female has a long, fine tapering brow-line. Quite an inquisitive little bloke, as he sat only a few hand spans away from me. He was in a small flock of other R-b finches. Their repeated, piercing, high-pitched sseee-sseee I had heard a few minutes ahead of the flocks arrival. Very active on the move birds but highly enjoyable to watch as they flitted amongst the much sought after feed of grass-head seeds and herbage. Diet is also supplemented with insects and immature/small fruit. These photos are edited. References :- Michael Morcombe Field Guide to Australian Birds and Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds. Third Photo taken 18/5/19. This shows the variety of grasses.