Spotted Pardalote Pardalotus punctatus
Spotted Pardalote, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria, Australia, February 2006 - click for larger image Australia
February 2006

The Spotted Pardalote is distributed in eastern, south-western and southern Australia including Tasmania. It is found in eucalypt forest, woodland, scrub and gardens. The few that I saw were normally foraging in the canopy and difficult to see far less photograph so I was delighted that a pair came down to a soak for a drink.

Spotted Pardalote, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria, Australia, February 2006 - click for larger image There are 4 species of Pardalote in Australia but this is the only one that I managed to photograph (so far!). They move around in flocks feeding off the insects that are attracted to the manna or sugary sap that comes from flowering eucalypts. They migrate from one area to another following the flowering eucalypts.
Spotted Pardalote, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria, Australia, February 2006 - click for larger image The male is more colourful than the female and has a yellow throat. Both sexes have prominent spots on the wings and crown, a red rump and yellow undertail coverts. These photos are mainly of females or immatures but there is a male, slightly out of focus, in the foreground of photo 1.
Spotted Pardalote, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria, Australia, February 2006 - click for larger image
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