Spotted Pardalotes are arguably Australia’s most beautiful, and most remarkable small bird.
Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus) – male
1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 1600
I know I’m biased towards birds (as are my lovely readers) but these little guys give me shivers of delight. Their plumage is exquisite. The male, above, has a sprinkling of bright white spots on his head, wings and tail. His back is a soft fawn with dark fringing, his throat is a magnificent yellow. His red rump can’t be seen in this shot but his white eyebrow and overall perfection is obvious.
Spotted Pardalotes have small, stubby bills which are well adapted for digging. Yep, these tiny birds are excellent excavators. If you look closely you’ll see there is some red dirt on his bill where he’s been tunnelling into the bank. Their tunnels are about a metre in length and end with a spherical space which becomes the nesting chamber.
Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus) – female
1/2500, f/9.0, ISO 1600
Female Spotted Pardalotes have more muted colours and are sprinkled with yellow spots rather than white ones.
I was concerned about the bird above as her right foot appeared to be injured. Birds often roost with one foot tucked up but after working with the Helmeted Honeyeaters for so long you get used to looking at birds’ feet and checking for lumps and injuries and signs of soreness. When she landed she tried several times to put her foot on the wire but couldn’t sustain the pose which was odd as she was only perching briefly before taking nesting material into the tunnel. When I saw the female next her foot seemed fine, which was a bit confusing. Now I don’t know whether she was fine or whether two females were visiting the area.
Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus) – male
1/2500, f/8.0, ISO 1600
Here’s the male with his fine collection of paperbark. It was comical to watch them as they’d take all kinds of nesting material into the tunnel and often exit with bits and pieces of it that weren’t wanted, as though the colour quite didn’t suit the decor – though come to think of it, it must be pretty dark in there. And that thought has made me wonder about their eyesight which must be fantastic or they wouldn’t know where the gaping mouths were that needed feeding, unless they go by sound – so many questions!
Happy birding
Kim
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