Meliphagidae
Little Wattlebird
Anthochaera chrysoptera
The Banksia's Own
- Length
- 30 cm
- Wingspan
- 40 cm
- Family
- Meliphagidae
Identification
A streaked brown-and-silver honeyeater of the coastal heath, with a dark face, a long white-tipped tail, and — despite the name — no red wattles. Smaller and browner than a Red Wattlebird. In a flowering banksia they are the house bird, coughing and chasing through the cones.
Distinctive marks
- Streaked brown and silver
- No red wattles
- Dark face
- Long tail with white tips
- Always near banksia or coastal heath
Behaviour & ecology
Specialists of coastal blossom, especially banksia. They hold a flowering tree with the same fury as their larger cousins, then hang upside-down to drink. More a bird of the tea-tree and the dune than of the inland street, though they will use a well-planted coastal garden.
Voice
A harsh, coughing chatter, slightly higher than a Red Wattlebird, and a more musical yodel in the breeding season.
On the Peninsula
Coastal heath, banksia woodland, and Peninsula gardens within reach of the sea. Less common once the street turns inland and the banksias give out.
Season
Year-round, peaking with banksia flower.
Diet
Nectar and insects, taken from banksia, grevillea, and other coastal blossom.
Conservation
Secure in remaining heath; follows the fate of coastal understorey.
Lore & resonance
They wear the heath's own streaking, as if the banksia had grown a second, louder fruit. A garden that holds them still has a coastline in it.
If you would attract them
Plant coast banksia and leave it unpruned. They will argue in it all winter. Water in summer; no honey-water.
