![]() ![]() Ĭommon names include gillbird, gilly warbler, barkingbird, muttonbird, butcherbird, what's o clock, and chock. The generic name derives from the Ancient Greek anthos 'flower, bloom' and khairō 'enjoy'. The species was moved to Anthochaera in 1827 by the naturalists Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield. Both Shaw and Latham assigned the red wattlebird to the genus Merops. ![]() The word is derived from caruncula, Latin for 'a small piece of flesh'. The specific epithet, carunculata, was introduced later in the same year by John Latham. The taxonomic descriptions in White's book are believed to have been written by the English naturalist George Shaw, who is generally credited as the author by subsequent authorities. He wrote that it was the "size of a missel thrush, but much larger in proportion". The red wattlebird was first described as the wattled bee-eater by the Irish surgeon and naturalist John White in his Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales, which was published in 1790. Although it has declined in places from land-clearing, it is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Breeding throughout its range, the red wattlebird builds a cup-shaped nest in a tree and raises one or two broods a year. It is territorial and at times aggressive towards birds of other species, often defending rich sources of nectar. It is one of the largest nectarivorous birds in the world, feeding from a wide variety of flowering plants. Loud and conspicuous, the red wattlebird is generally found in trees, where it gets most of its food occasionally it forages on the ground. The species is found in southeast Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and southwest Western Australia in open forest and woodlands, and is a common visitor to urban gardens and parks. John White described the red wattlebird in 1790. Juveniles have less prominent wattles and browner eyes. It has mainly grey-brown plumage, with red eyes, distinctive pinkish-red wattles on either side of the neck, white streaks on the chest and a large bright yellow patch on the lower belly. At 33–37 cm (13– 14 + 1⁄ 2 in) in length, it is the second largest species of Australian honeyeater. The red wattlebird ( Anthochaera carunculata) is a passerine bird native to southern Australia. ![]()
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