Vibrant Red Accents: A Stunning Contrast in an Otherwise Subtle Plumage

Prominent red eyebrows and a bright red rump pop against a background of grey and olive green making this small waxbill easy to recognize!

Meet the Red-browed Finch

Photo Courtesy of Jim Bendon / CC BY-SA 2.0

The red-browed finch (Neochmia temporalis) is easily recognized mainly due to their prominent red eyebrows, rump, and beak. This bright splash of color pops from an otherwise green back and grey chest and belly. The tail is black, the throat and cheeks grey.

Photo Courtesy of Paul Balfe / CC BY 2.0

Both males and females look very alike.

Juvenile birds lack the red eyebrows of the adult birds and also lack the olive coloration of the back and wing coverts.

Photo Courtesy of Laurie Boyle / CC BY-SA 2.0

These birds inhabit the east coast of Australia and have also been introduced to French Polynesia.

Photo (frame reduced) Courtesy of Mark Gillow / CC BY 2.0

The Red-browed Finch can often be found in grassy areas interspersed with dense understorey vegetation, often alongside creek beds.

Photo Courtesy of Laurie Boyle / CC BY-SA 2.0

Red-browed Finches are seed eaters, dining mostly on grass and sedge seed, but will happily feed on a wide variety of non-native seeds.

Photo Courtesy of patrickkavanagh / CC BY 2.0

During the breeding season, both male and female Red-browed Finches build a large domed-shaped nest with a side entrance, from woven grass and small twigs. This nest is built around 2 to 3 meters above ground level in dense shrubbery. Four to six eggs are laid within. Both parents also share in the incubation of the eggs and feeding the young once they hatch. Juvenile birds are fully dependent on their parents until they are around 28 days old.