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Little Wattlebird - BirdForum Opus

Disambiguation: For the species Anthochaera lunulata, see Western Wattlebird

Photo © by Tom Tarrant
Samsonvale, South East Queensland, March 2005

Alternative name: Brush Wattlebird

Anthochaera chrysoptera

Identification

Subspecies chrysoptera
Photo © by bievreJJ
Mornington peninsula, Victoria, Australia, November 2013

27–35 cm (10½-13¾ in)

  • Dark greyish-brown upperparts
  • Faint white shafts on each of the feathers
  • Grey underparts heavily streaked with white
  • Blue-grey eye
  • Sexes similar

Distribution

Eastern and southern Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria) and Tasmania.

Taxonomy

Western Wattlebird was recently split from this species. There has been disagreement on which name to apply to each of the two forms; Little Wattlebird has been used for both forms.

Subspecies

Juvenile
Photo © by julien
Eagle Point, Victoria, Australia, November 2004

Three subspecies are recognized for this species[1]:

  • A. c. chrysoptera:
  • A. c. halmaturina:
  • Kangaroo Island (South Australia)
  • A. c. tasmanica:

Habitat

Drier, often scrubby, habitats such as banksia heaths, forests, eucalypt woodlands and urban parks and gardens.

Behaviour

Diet

They have a long brush-tipped tongue which is used to probe into flowers to get the nectar. They also eat insects, flowers, berries and occasionally seeds.

Breeding

The female constructs the nest, which is a large cup of twigs and grass, lined with feathers and wool. She incubates the eggs, but both parents care for the young.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Avibase
  3. Birds in Backyards
  4. BF Member observations

Recommended Citation

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1

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