wattlebird
nounEtymology From wattle + bird.
1
Any of a group of Australian birds in the genus Anthochaera of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae.
- In Hobart Town it is frequently exposed for sale in the markets with Bronzewing Pigeons and Wattlebirds, where it is known by the name of Ground-Dove, an appellation which has doubtless been given both from its habit of running and feeding upon the ground like the Pigeons […]1865, John Gould, Handbook to The Birds of Australia, volume 1, page 434:
- Outside in the evening a wattlebird wrenches pieces from the brush tree at the end of the veranda.2015, Charlotte Wood, The Natural Way of Things, Allen & Unwin, published 2018, page 285:
2
Any of three birds in the family Callaeidae, endemic to New Zealand.
- Derived terms
- brush wattlebird, little wattlebird, red wattlebird, western wattlebird, yellow wattlebird