Snappy Spotted Pardalotes
Spotted Pardalote
A few days ago I was out in our garden and my attention was alerted by constant snapping noises. It wasn’t loud mind you, but loud enough to be aware of. I knew immediately what to look for. The mallee tree above me had been taken over by about a half dozen Spotted Pardalotes. The soft snapping noise was from their beaks grabbing a feast of little bugs called Lerps which are a form of psyllid sap sucking insects.
I went inside to get my camera and by that time all except one bird had moved on. He was rather shy about having his photo taken, so you will have to be satisfied with the partial view as seen above. If you click on the photo it will enlarge the image. Then you might be just able to see on the leaves the waxy scale like coverings the Lerps like to hide under.
To learn more about the Lerps insects click here.
Related articles:
hi Trevor,
the busy little Spotted pardalotes are certainly beaut little birds, and especially great to watch at this time of the year with breeding activities. You are fortunate to have them so close.
I made a post last spring on the pardalotes and serched out the lerps to check them out closely as I had never seen them before reading up on pardalotes:
http://hvbackyard.blogspot.com/2007/09/29-spotted-pardolates-are-nesting.html
Cheers
Gaye
Hi there Gaye, thanks for visiting and also for leaving a comment. Pardalotes would have to be in my short list of favourite birds. We love hearing them call in the trees around our garden – we have both the Striated and Spotted here – both are resident breeding species.
I briefly visited you post – what stunning photos! Thanks for the link – when I have more time I will read more of the wildlife in your area. I’ll make a link back to you.
[…] Snappy Spotted Pardalotes […]