Birds are a vital component in helping you to maximise Natural Resource Management (NRM) on your farm. Birds are known as ‘indicator species’, and a large variety of birds present on your farm can indicate a high diversity of trees, shrubs, mammals, reptiles, frogs and invertebrates. Birds provide many on-farm benefits ranging from agricultural insect pest control to maintaining tree health, which is intimately linked with NRM.

Diamond Firetail (Stagonopleura guttata) Status: Vulnerable in NSW. Protected throughout Australia. Description: The Diamond Firetail is a striking finch, with a bright red beak, eyes and rump. The head is grey, back and wings are ash-brown, the tail is black, the throat, lower breast, belly and undertail are white. A black band spreads from the upper chest back along the flanks where brilliant white spots are highly visible. Their size range is 12—13 cm. Call: A mournful double whistle ‘tioo-wheee’

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The Murrumbidgee CMA together with the Grain & Graze project helps you maximise profitability and Natural Resource Management on your farm.

Habitat: In the Murrumbidgee Catchment Diamond Firetails inhabit open forest, mallee, grasslands and riparian areas. One of its key habitat requirements is ground cover dominated by native grasses. They also require a close by water resource and trees for roosting in at night. Birds roost in dense shrubs or in smaller nests built especially for roosting. Feeding: The Diamond Firetail feeds predominately on the seeds of native grasses, by hopping briskly along the ground with feet together. They will also feed on the occasional insect. Drinking is done multiple times during the day, hence the need for a near by water resource. Breeding: Breeding occurs from August to January usually in colonies; one brood per year is typical although in wetter years a second brood may be attempted. The male courts the female in an elaborate mating display. The nest is constructed using long grass stems and blades to form a bottle shaped nest with nesting chamber and long entrance tunnel. The nest is usually well concealed in dense foliage at a height of about 10m.

Did you Know? The Diamond Firetail is commonly kept

and bred in captivity. However, in the wild these birds have and declined extensively

in number - due to habitat destruction.

Diamond Firetail. Photo: Geoffrey Dabb, Canberra Ornithologists Group.

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How the Murrumbidgee CMA can assist you? • Incentives for protecting and enhancing native remnant vegetation • Incentives for revegetating areas

with local native species • Incentives for establishing wildlife corridors • Providing alternate stock watering

points where wetlands and riparian areas have been fenced off (conditions apply)

How can you help to encourage these birds on your farm? • Retain areas of native grassland • Retain leaf litter and logs in open woodland areas • Preserve and encourage regeneration of

understorey plants • Control weeds in areas of known habitat • Rest areas of native vegetation from grazing to allow grasses to set seed • Undertake hazard control burning in a mosaic pattern on a long rotation • Control feral predators

Benefits of Diamond Firetails for your farm: • Increasing Diamond Firetail habitat

increases habitat for other beneficial fauna species

• Improves on-farm aesthetics • A large Diamond Firetail population

indicates a healthy stand of native vegetation

References: Morcombe, M., 2000. Field Guide to Australian Birds. Steve Parish, Archerfield. Barrett, G., 2000. Birds on Farms – Ecological Manage-ment for Agricultural Sustain-ability. Supplement to Wing-span, vol.10,no.4, December 2000. Birds Australia, Haw-thorn East. Department of Environment and Conservation http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/index.aspx

Threats to Diamond Firetails: • Modification and destruction of habitat in

particular shrub layers and the removal of litter and fallen timber

• Too frequent fires and heavy grazing of native pastures

• Invasion of native grasslands by exotic grasses which are not palatable

• Lack of regeneration of habitat • Predation by natural and exotic predators • Illegal trapping and egg collection

Potential Diamond Firetail habitat — Grassy Box Woodland (Photo: S. Hobgen)

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For further information contact:

��������������������������������Catchment Officer (Grain & Graze) Murrumbidgee CMA Leeton office Ph: (02) 6953 0766 Mob: 0428 265 040 E-mail: sheila.delange@cma.nsw.gov.au �

�� ����� ��������������������Catchment Officer (Grain & Graze) Murrumbidgee CMA Henty office Ph: (02) 6929 3555 Mob: 0427 012 862 E-mail: cassie.west@cma.nsw.gov.au �

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Grain and Graze Murrumbidgee partners: