| Spotted Pardalote | |
|---|---|
| Male with nesting material, Tasmania, Australia | |
| Female with nesting material, Tasmania, Australia | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Pardalotidae |
| Genus: | Pardalotus |
| Species: | P. punctatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pardalotus punctatus (Shaw & Nodder, 1792) |
|
| The Approximate Distribution of the Spotted Pardalote | |
The Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus) is one of the smallest of all Australian birds at 8 to 10 cm in length, and one of the most colourful; it is sometimes known as the Diamondbird. Although moderately common in all of the reasonably fertile parts of Australia (the east coast, the south-east, and the south-west corner) it is seldom seen closely enough to enable identification.
Contents |
All Pardalotes have spots and all nest in tunnels at least sometimes; the Spotted Pardalote has the most conspicuous spots and (like the Red-browed Pardalote) always nests in tunnels. Pairs make soft, whistling wheet-wheet calls to one another throughout the day, which carry for quite a distance. One of the difficulties in locating a Pardalote is that the contact call is in fact two calls: an initial call and an almost instant response, and thus can come from two different directions.
Spotted Pardalote numbers appear to be declining, especially in urban areas[1], but the species in not considered endangered at this time.[2]