Red Wattlebird

Description:

Medium sized (30-35 cms) slender french grey coloured bird with white streaky feathers. Yellow belly with red wattles hanging down on either side of head at neck level. Slightly curved beak with a long dart-like bristly tongue. Very skittish and noisy. They threaten other birds with sharp clicks as they fly past.

Habitat:

forests, bush land and gardens. Honey eating and also eats small insects - hence seen where there are flowering plants. Seen eating insects off gum trees.

Notes:

Have had several of these birds in our garden this year. Probably two broods this season. They have been feeding and training their young in our back yard - thoroughly enjoyable watching them protect their young. They seem to enjoy perching on the young silky oak tree ( Grevillea robusta) as you can see in one of the pictures. Sorry - photos are not good quality. These birds are fast moving but you can just make-out the wattles in one of the photos