Noisy Friarbird
Philemon corniculatus
Quick facts
Size: Averages 34 cm long including long tail, 100 g.
Range and lifestyle: Through most of eastern Australia; some birds in Queensland probably live year-round in large home ranges, but others are winter visitors from southern states.
Food: Insects and nectar.
Breeding: The nest is a deep bowl composed of bark with grass around the rim, usually built into the foliage of a gum tree. The female alone incubates the 2 - 4 eggs, which are pale pink splashed with darker pink-brown and purple.
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One of the largest honeyeaters in Australia, this species is immediately recognisable by its naked head and neck, the knob on its long bill and its raucous, cackling calls.
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Like other members of the honeyeater family, friarbirds eat insects, as well as nectar which they mostly obtain from the blossoms of gum trees and paperbark trees.
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When they take over a flowering tree, they will actively and noisily defend it against all other intruding birds.
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Large flocks often form, possibly involving migratory individuals from New South Wales or even Victoria.
Text © Richard Noske 2021 CC BY-NC-SA
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