Red wattlebird

The Red Wattlebird also known as Barkingbird or Gillbird is a large, noisy honeyeater. Is among the largest of the Australian honeyeaters. The common name refers to the fleshy reddish wattle on the side of the neck.
The wattles are used for compressing nectar from the flowers, when the bill is closed.
The plumage is gray-brown on the body, with prominent white streaks and yellow on the belly. The face is pale and the tail is long whit a white-tip.
Young Red Wattlebirds are duller then the adult and have a brown, rather then reddish, aye. The wattle is also very small and pale.
Its main food is nectar, which is obtains by probing flowers with its thin curved bill. Some insects are also eaten, taken either from foliage or caught in mid-air. Berries and the honeydew produced by some insects add to the bird's diet.
Its range extends throughout the southern areas of the Australian mainland and occurs in forests and woodlands, where it aggressively protect food-bearing plants from the other honeyeater species.

Photos taken 1,2,3,4, Tomato lake, Perth W.A.
                     5,6        Withman national park W.A. 7 Herdsman Lake

Red Wattlebird je pogosto znan pod imenom Barkingbird ali lajajoč ptič zaradi njegovega značilnega oglašanja. Je zelo glasna ptica vrste medojedcev in je ena izmed največjih, te vrste. Ime se nanaša na mesnata, rdečkasta jezička, ki jim visita ob straneh vrata in služita za stiskanje medu iz cveta kadar je kljun zaprt.
Po večjem delu telesa je perje sivo-rjavo, z vidnimi belimi progami in rumeno po trebuhu. Ima bled obraz in dolg rep z belimi odtenki na koncu.
Perje mladičev je bolj pustih barv kot odraslih ptičev, oči pa imajo pogosteje rjave kot rdečkaste. Prav tako imajo zelo blede in majne jezičke na vratu.
V glavnem se prehranjujejo z cvetnim nektarjem katerega črpa iz cvetov z rahlo ukrivljenim tenkim kljunom in nekaterimi insekti ki jih najde na listju ali ulovi v zraku. Na jedilniku pa so tudi gozdne jagode in ostanki medu drugih insektov.
Njegov habitat sega čez vsa južna področja Avstralske celine, nahaja pa se v gozdovih in širših gozdnih pokrajinah, kjer agresivno brani svoje položaje s hrano pred drugimi medojedimi vrstami.