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Red wattlebird
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Red wattlebird
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Meliphagidae
Genus: Anthochaera
Species: A. carunculata
Binomial name
Anthochaera carunculata
(Shaw, 1790)
Distribution map of the red wattlebird
The red wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata) is a passerine bird native to southern Australia. At 33–
37 cm (13–14+1⁄2 in) in length, it is the second largest species of Australian honeyeater, after the
yellow wattlebird. It has mainly grey-brown plumage, with red eyes, distinctive pinkish-red wattles on
either side of the neck, white streaks on the chest and a large bright yellow patch on the lower belly.
The sexes are similar in plumage. Juveniles have less prominent wattles and browner eyes. John
White described the red wattlebird in 1790. Three subspecies are recognized.
The species is found in southeast Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and
southwest Western Australia in open forest and woodland, and is a common visitor to urban gardens
and parks. Loud and conspicuous, the red wattlebird is generally found in trees, where it gets most of
its food; occasionally it forages on the ground. It is one of the largest nectarivorous birds in the world,
feeding from a wide variety of flowering plants. Insects also comprise part of its diet. It is territorial
and at times aggressive towards birds of other species, often defending rich sources of nectar.
Breeding throughout its range, the red wattlebird builds a cup-shaped nest in a tree and raises one or
two broods a year. Although it has declined in places from land-clearing, it is classified as Least
Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Taxonomy
The red wattlebird was first described as the wattled bee-eater by the Irish surgeon and naturalist
John White in his Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales, which was published in 1790.[1] He wrote
that it was the "size of a missel thrush, but much larger in proportion".[2] The taxonomic descriptions
in White's book are believed to have been written by the English naturalist George Shaw,[3][4] who is
generally credited as the author by subsequent authorities.[5][6] The specific epithet, carunculata,
was introduced later in the same year by John Latham.[7][8] The word is derived from caruncula, Latin
for 'a small piece of flesh'.[9] Both Shaw and Latham assigned the red wattlebird to the genus Merops.
The species was moved to Anthochaera in 1827 by the naturalists Nicholas Aylward Vigors and
Thomas Horsfield.[10][11] The generic name derives from the Ancient Greek anthos 'flower, bloom'
and khairō 'enjoy'.[12]
"Red wattlebird" has been designated as the official common name for the species by the
International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).[6] Other common names include gillbird,[13] gilly warbler,
barkingbird, muttonbird, butcherbird, what's o clock, and chock.[14] Unlike many species in
southwestern Australia, the red wattlebird was given names by the local indigenous people that were
onomatopoeic (sounding like the calls they make). Names recorded include wodjalok, durdal,
doongorok, and djoongong (this last name is also applied to the western wattlebird).[15] In the Eyre
Peninsula in South Australia, the local Barngarla people knew it as ngarkarko or ngarkabukko.[16] The
local people of Denial Bay in South Australia called it noggal,[17] and the Ngarrindjeri people of the
Lower Murray region in South Australia knew it as rungkan.[18]
There are three recognised subspecies,[6] though there is a zone of intermediate birds across western
Victoria and eastern South Australia, bordered by western Port Phillip Bay to the east, Mount Lofty
Ranges to the west, and Little and Big Desert national parks to the north.[19] The differences in
plumage are not generally prominent enough to be noticeable in the field.[14]
A. c. carunculata (Shaw, 1790) – found in southeast Australia, namely Victoria, eastern New South
Wales, and southeastern Queensland.[19]
A. c. clelandi (Mathews, 1923) – Kangaroo Island (South Australia). Of a similar size to the nominate
subspecies, it tends to have darker plumage, a longer bill, and shorter tarsus.[20]
A. c. woodwardi Mathews, 1912 – southwest and south-central Australia, west of the Mount Lofty
Ranges. This subspecies is a little smaller than the nominate subspecies and has shorter wings. Its
plumage is similar, though the yellow patch on the belly is more prominent.[19]
Analysis of DNA showed that the closest relative of the red wattlebird is the yellow wattlebird of
Tasmania, the pair splitting from the ancestor of the regent honeyeater—their next closest relative.
[21] Honeyeaters are related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae (Australian warblers,
scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and Maluridae (Australian fairy-wrens) in the large superfamily
Meliphagoidea.[22]
Description
A brownish bird stooped over a bird bath
At a bird bath in Canberra, with wattles easily visible
The sexes of the red wattlebird are similar in size and plumage, the length of the adult male ranging
from 33 to 37 centimetres (13 to 15 in) and the adult female from 34 to 37 centimetres (13 to 15 in).
[14] With an average weight of 100–120 grams (3.5–4.2 oz),[19] the red wattlebird is one of the
largest nectar-feeding birds in the world,[23] and the second largest species of honeyeater native to
Australia, eclipsed only by the yellow wattlebird.[24] The crown, forehead and upper lores (area
between the eyes and nostrils) are dark brown, streaked with pale brown at the front of the crown
and white at the rear of the crown. The nape (back of the neck) is slightly paler brown, with white
streaks. A whitish triangular marking covers the lower lores and anterior ear covert feathers,
bordered below by a dark brown stripe from the lower mandible down to the wattle and around to
behind the eye. The throat is dark brown streaked with white.[25] The iris of the eye is orange-red to
crimson.[26] The distinctive pinkish-red wattles dangle from the lower rear corner of the ear coverts
on either side of the neck, and there is a sliver of pink bare skin at the lower border of the white patch
on the face.[14] The chest and belly are streaked white, and there is a bright yellow patch towards the
tail.[27] The strong legs and feet are pink or pinkish-brown, and t
