'MRS SPOTS', the Spotted Pardalote

One of Australia’s smallest birds, the Spotted Pardalote has beautifully unique plumage which has earned it the fashionable nickname ‘Diamondbird’. Found in eastern and southern Australia, mostly in eucalypt forests and woodlands, but also occur in urban areas with a well-established eucalypt canopy.  At only 9cm long, Spotted Pardalotes can sometimes be hard to spot. Look for them flittering through the canopy of Blue Gums, Pink Gums or River Red Gums in search of lerps and psyllids. A lerp is the crystal-like honeydew casing that a psyllid insect creates as a kind of shelter for its body. Psyllids are plant lice that suck the sap from eucalypts which isn’t a problem for a healthy tree. However, when a forest is under stress due to weeds, drought, logging or changed fire patterns (which has been an issue in Australian bushland for a while now), high numbers of psyllids can cause eucalypts to become sick and eventually die. By eating lerps and psyllids, Spotted Pardalotes are playing their part to lessen the stress on our native plants and keep our forests healthy. During the breeding season, Spotted Pardalote parents diligently drill a narrow, circular tunnel into an earth bank. At the end of the tunnel, they excavate a large nest chamber and line it with strips of bark to lay their eggs – they’ve also been found nesting in pipes, carpet rolls and garage roll-a-doors! It also changes its tune in breeding season; “Sleep-may-be, Sleep-may-be.” This monotonous, repetitive call has earned it the nickname: the Headache Bird. Conservation Status: Secure.

*Price is for mounted artwork only. Any framed image examples are for illustrative purposes only.*