Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata) [XC201466]
by Marc Anderson from Dunn's Swamp, near Rylstone, NSW, Australia (call)
Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata) [XC715147]
by Khristos Nizamis from Horsnell Gully, Adelaide Hills Council, South Australia, Australia (call)
Nest
An untidy bowl, composed of twigs, grass and bark, lined with softer materials, placed in a bush or tree up to 10 m or more above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
2 - 3; pink-buff with sparse red-brown and purplish spots; oval to tapered-oval; about 33 x 22 mm.
Young
Fledge in 14 - 17 days, but occasionally up to 26 days.
Subspecies
May form a superspecies with Yellow Wattlebird (Anthochaera paradoxa). The ranges of carunculata and woodwardi intergrade acoss western Victoria and south-eastern SA.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
carunculata (White, 1790) - Coastal and sub-coastal eastern mainland Australia from far south-eastern Qld, on the western Great Divide, west to central Victoria.
woodwardi Mathews, 1912 - South and south-western Australia, east to the Mount Lofty Ranges, SA.
clelandi (Mathews, 1923) - Kangaoo Island, SA.
Similar Species
Unmistakable but in poor light or in flight may be confused with Little Wattlebird (Anthochaera chrysoptera), Western Wattlebird (Anthochaera lunulata) both of which are smaller and darker and lack wattles and with Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater (Acanthagenys rufogularis) which has a completely white tipped tail.
References
See References.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet