Spotted Pardalote

The Spotted Pardalote is one of Australia's smallest and most exquisitely marked birds, a tiny, compact species with a black crown and wings boldly spangled with rows of small white spots, a yellow throat, and, in the male, a bright crimson-red rump. Females are similarly patterned but with slightly duller colours overall.

Despite its striking appearance, this pardalote spends much of its time high in the eucalypt canopy, feeding on tiny sugary secretions called lerps produced by psyllid insects on gum leaves, making it far more often heard than seen as it forages among the foliage well above ground level.

Its distinctive, high-pitched, rhythmic call is a familiar sound of Australian eucalypt forests and woodlands, and the species also nests in an unusual way for a canopy-feeding bird, excavating a burrow in an earthen bank rather than building an open nest in a tree.

Key field marks

• Tiny size, among the smallest Australian birds
• Black crown and wings boldly marked with rows of white spots
• Yellow throat and breast
• Bright red rump patch (more prominent in males)
• High, rhythmic, repeated call, often the first clue to its presence

Similar species

The Striated Pardalote lacks the bold white-spotted crown, instead showing a streaked crown and a yellow spot in front of the eye, and has a different, more clipped call. No other small Australian bird shares the Spotted Pardalote's combination of spotted black crown, yellow throat, and red rump.

Habitat

Spotted Pardalotes favour eucalypt forests and woodlands, feeding mainly high in the canopy but nesting in earthen banks, cuttings, or occasionally in mounds of soil at ground level.

Range

The species occurs across southern Australia, from southeastern Queensland through New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, southwestern Western Australia, and Tasmania.

Migration

Some populations, particularly at higher elevations and in the southeast, undertake local altitudinal or latitudinal movements outside the breeding season, while others are more sedentary.

Behavior

Spotted Pardalotes forage actively in the outer eucalypt canopy, often in small flocks, gleaning lerps and small insects from leaves, and can be difficult to see well given their small size and high foraging height.

Voice

The call is a distinctive, high-pitched, rhythmic series of two or three notes, often rendered as 'sleep-may-be' or similar, repeated frequently and carrying well through forest.

Feeding

It feeds mainly on lerps, the sugary protective coverings produced by psyllid insects on eucalypt leaves, along with small insects and other invertebrates gleaned from foliage.

Nesting and breeding

Unusually for a canopy-feeding bird, the Spotted Pardalote excavates a narrow tunnel nest in an earthen bank, road cutting, or occasionally a potted plant, ending in a small nesting chamber; both parents share incubation and feeding of the young.