Red wattlebird

Red wattlebird

What is a red wattlebird?

Red wattlebirds are honeyeaters. They feed on nectar and are often seen upside down with their beak in the blossom of a flowering shrub such as a grevillea or banksia. Their scientific name is Anthochaera carunculata.

Red wattlebirds are named for the small oval-shaped wattle on each side of their neck. A wattle is a small flap of skin on the neck below a bird’s beak.

What do red wattlebirds look like?

A medium-sized bird, red wattlebirds have a grey-brown body with white streaks, a yellow underbelly and long tail feathers with white tips. Red wattlebirds have a pale grey patch under their eyes. Adults have reddish-brown coloured eyes whereas younger birds have brown eyes. Red wattlebirds have a narrow curved pointy beak and a long pointy tongue designed for poking into flowers. 

On each side of a red wattlebird’s neck is a small red oval-shaped flap of skin. This fleshy flap of skin is called a wattle and gives the red wattlebird its name. Juvenile birds have smaller paler wattles.

What do red wattlebirds sound like?

Red wattlebirds make a loud harsh call that sounds like a croaky ‘yacka yack’ or a single ‘yock’. During the breeding season male and female wattlebirds call and respond to each other – the male with a harsher call and the female with a more whistle-like call.

Where do red wattlebirds live?

Red wattlebirds live in eucalypt forests and woodlands with flowering trees and shrubs in the southern parts of Australia’s mainland. They also frequent gardens in these areas. They are usually seen alone or in pairs.

What do red wattlebirds eat?

Honeyeaters, red wattlebirds feed mainly on the nectar of flowers and blossoms. They also eat berries and insects. Red wattlebirds climb around a flowering shrub visiting each blossom, often stretching upside down to poke their beak into a flower and lick the nectar with their long brush-tipped tongue. 

Preferring blossoms rich in nectar, in suburban bushland and gardens red wattlebirds are often seen feeding on the blossoms of grevilleas, banksias, paperbarks, hakeas and coastal heath. They will also collect nectar from non-native flowers such as camelias.

How are red wattlebirds adapted to their environment?

Red wattlebirds have a beak and tongue designed for obtaining nectar from native flowers. They poke their long curved beak into the centre of a flower and use their long tongue to reach in and collect the nectar. The tip of the tongue has many fine hairs like a brush for collecting nectar.

The strong feet of red wattlebirds enable them to grip onto narrow branches as they climb around shrubs visiting each flower, often stretching upside down to reach. 

Red wattlebirds are nomadic, following the seasonal flowering of native plants. They may travel to feeding areas as a loose flock. The flight feathers of red wattlebirds enable them to fly to food sources, to roost, build nests, feed their young and to escape predators.

Red wattlebirds use aggressive behaviours to other honeyeaters in their territory, calling loudly and chasing them away from nectar-bearing flowering plants.

How do red wattlebirds reproduce and what is their life-cycle?

July to December is the main breeding season for red wattlebirds. Their nest is a small bowl made of twigs and grass and lined with soft material such as downy feathers. The nest is usually three to 10 metres above the ground.

Two to three small oval-shaped eggs are laid. The eggs have a pink tinge with some scattered spots. Both the male and female have been known to incubate the eggs, but often it is just the female. ‘Incubate’ means to keep the eggs warm. The eggs are incubated for 16 to 21 days.

The young stay in the nest for 15 to 20 days and are fed by both parents. The young birds continue to be fed by their parents for two to three weeks after they leave the nest.

Red wattlebirds may have two broods in a season. ‘Brood’ means a family of birds.

What is the role of red wattlebirds in the environment?

As nectar feeders, red wattlebirds are important pollinators. Whilst poking their beak into flowers to collect nectar, pollen collects on the bird’s face and is transferred to other flowers.

What threats do wattlebirds face and how can we help them?

Clearing of bushland for housing, urban development and agriculture reduces flowering eucalypts and shrubs used as food by red wattlebirds.

Planting native flowering shrubs such as grevilleas, banksias, bottlebrush and paperbarks can help provide food and habitat for red wattlebirds and other nectar eaters. Providing artificial ponds or bird baths also gives native birds drinking water and a place to bathe or cool off.

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