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Jonathan Cheah Weng Kwong | profile | all galleries >> Others >> Freaky Accidents >> High Profile Species >> Melbourne 2011 >> Anthochaera carunculata - Red Wattlebird tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Anthochaera carunculata - Red Wattlebird

The Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata), also known as Barkingbird or Gillbird, is a honeyeater; a group of birds found mainly in Australia and New Guinea which have highly developed brush-tipped tongues adapted for nectar feeding. The tongue is flicked rapidly and repeatedly into a flower, the upper mandible then compressing any liquid out when the bill is closed.

Although honeyeaters look and behave very much like other nectar-feeding passerines around the world (such as the sunbirds and flowerpeckers), they are unrelated, and the similarities are the consequence of convergent evolution. The Red Wattlebird is a large (up to 35 cm) grey-brown honeyeater with red eyes, distinctive red wattles either side of the neck and white streaks on the chest and belly, which reveals a bright yellow patch towards the tail. Juveniles are generally less flamboyant, with less prominent wattles and browner eyes.[1]
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