Meliphagidae
Red Wattlebird
Anthochaera carunculata
The Cough in the Banksia
- Length
- 35 cm
- Wingspan
- 48 cm
- Family
- Meliphagidae
Identification
The largest common honeyeater of the suburban Peninsula: a streaked grey-brown bird with a dark face, a yellow wash on the belly, white tips to a long tail, and — the mark that names it — a small fleshy red wattle hanging at each cheek. In flight they look rakish, as if put together for speed and argument.
Distinctive marks
- Fleshy red wattles at the cheek
- Streaked grey-brown body
- Yellow wash on the belly
- White-tipped long tail
- Loud, coughing voice
Behaviour & ecology
Aggressive defenders of blossom. They chase lorikeets, miners, and each other through a flowering eucalypt with comic fury, then hang upside-down to drink. Pair bonds last; the cough carries three gardens over.
Voice
A harsh, coughing 'yak' and a more musical, gurgling phrase. You will hear them before you see the wattles.
On the Peninsula
Almost any Peninsula street with banksia, grevillea, or a flowering gum. Equally at home in coastal heath and the oldest suburbs.
Season
Year-round, following whatever is in flower.
Diet
Nectar, insects, and fruit. The tongue is a brush.
Conservation
Secure and increasing with planted nectar streets.
Lore & resonance
The wattle is a small red secret the bird wears in plain sight. Once you have seen it, every coughing shape in a banksia becomes a someone.
If you would attract them
Plant local banksias and grevilleas, and accept that a wattlebird will argue in them. Fresh water in summer. Never honey-water.
