Red Wattlebird

The Red Wattlebird is one of the largest honeyeaters in Australia, a boldly streaked grey-brown bird with a long tail, a red eye, and a distinctive fleshy pink-red wattle drooping from the side of the face below the eye. The underparts are heavily streaked with white and grey before giving way to a bright lemon-yellow belly patch, a useful field mark visible even in flight or at a distance.

A conspicuous and often aggressive presence wherever flowering eucalypts, banksias, or grevilleas are in bloom, it is quick to chase off smaller honeyeaters and other birds from a good nectar source, and its harsh, coughing calls are a familiar sound of woodland and garden alike across southern Australia.

Key field marks

• Large size for a honeyeater, with a long tail and streaky grey-brown plumage
• Fleshy pink-red wattle hanging below the eye
• Bright yellow patch on the lower belly, contrasting with streaked white-grey underparts
• Red eye and a slim, slightly downcurved bill

Similar species

• Little Wattlebird is smaller, lacks the facial wattle entirely, and has a shorter tail.
• Yellow Wattlebird (Tasmania only) is larger still with longer wattles and does not overlap on the mainland.
• Noisy Friarbird lacks streaking and has a bare grey-black head rather than a wattle.

Habitat

Found in eucalypt woodland, banksia and grevillea heathland, coastal scrub, orchards, parks, and well-vegetated suburban gardens.

Range

Widespread across southern Australia, from southwestern Western Australia across South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales to southeastern Queensland; absent from the arid interior and the tropical north.

Migration

Partly nomadic, with seasonal movements tracking the flowering of eucalypts and banksias; some populations, especially in the southeast, undertake regular seasonal migrations between breeding and non-breeding areas.

Behavior

Bold, assertive, and often dominant at flowering trees, aggressively chasing off other honeyeaters, small birds, and even larger species from favored nectar sources; frequently forages and moves in small noisy groups.

Voice

A loud, harsh, coughing or barking call often likened to a cork being pulled from a bottle, along with a variety of raucous chattering notes.

Feeding

Feeds mainly on nectar from eucalypts, banksias, and grevilleas, supplemented with insects gleaned from foliage and bark, and soft fruit.

Nesting

Builds a bulky, untidy cup nest of twigs, bark, and grass in the outer branches of a tree or shrub; lays 2-3 pale pinkish eggs with reddish-brown spotting.