Spotted Pardalotes
13 Comments »11th April, 2006; Category: Birds, Garden birds, Honeyeaters, Murray Bridge, Pardalotes
While working in the garden yesterday I was aware of several Spotted Pardalotes (Pardalotus punctatus) in the mallee trees near me. It is always a delight to hear their “pip pip” calls all around us. They are a resident, breeding species in our garden here in Murray Bridge, South Australia. Sometimes their calls are like the squeaking of a rusty gate, so my wife refers to them as the “Squeaky Gate Pardalote.” A subspecies (xanthopygus) is the Yellow Rumped Pardalote. Their rump is a really bright yellow! This subspecies is also present in this area.
Spotted Pardalote with nesting material in beak
Distribution and Breeding
The Spotted Pardalote is found in suitable habitat throughout southern and eastern Australia. These habitats include woodlands, gardens, parks, scrubs, forests and mallee. I have recorded it breeding in our garden, both in a burrow in the sand and in the hollow of a tree. They have also been known to nest in the gaps of brickwork.
Close encounter
One individual I saw yesterday was in the branches just above where I was doing some weeding. He came down closer and closer to me as I made soft kissing noises trying to attract his attention. Eventually he was within a metre of my head – of course I didn’t have my camera with me! Both of us received a sudden jolt when a honeyeater – presumably a New Holland Honeyeater – came rocketing past, snapping its beak at the pardalote who retreated rapidly into the foliage of a nearby tree.
Striated Pardalote
The other species of Pardalote resident in our garden is the Striated Pardalote (Pardalotus striatus).
Brown Headed Honeyeaters
While we were having lunch today a flock of about 7 Brown Headed Honeyeaters came to our bird bath for a drink. They stayed long enough for a drink but didn’t attempt to bathe. I was quick enough to get the camera out and get a few photos. This is the first time I have been successful photographing this species.
Brown-headed Honeyeater
Birds of Monarto Zoological Park, Murray Bridge
Yesterday I wrote about the birds contained in the collection of the Adelaide Zoo. The birds of Monarto Zoological Park are a totally different matter. This park is of the open range type of zoo – in fact, it is a park – not a zoo in the traditional sense. It is a place we visit often, for two reasons. It is only a few kilometres – about a ten minute drive – from our home. Secondly, I am a Life Member – so it only costs me the petrol to get in.
Visitor Centre
Upon entering the grounds of the zoo at Monarto, one has to drive several kilometres to the car park next to the Visitor Centre. This facility contains an information centre, shop and a wonderful restaurant. From here one is able to go for guided walks through the mallee scrubland that forms a very important part of the local habitat. Some of this scrubland is old growth mallee, something that is quite rare in these parts.
Bus Tours
Most visitors to Monarto Zoo book into one of the Bus Tours of the park. Each tour has a volunteer guide on board. Each specially trained guide is a mine of information about the birds and animals of the park. The tours usually take about an hour and they take one through different “habitats” of the park with great views of the animals up close. For example, one gets excellent views of giraffe, zebra, lions, cheetah, painted dogs and a range of other animals from around the world.
Birds of Monarto Zoo
Adelaide Zoo’s strength is in its vast collection of birds in aviaries. Monarto Zoo is quite different. There is a small enclosure with some Mallee Fowl in it. This is part of their breeding programme for this endangered species. They also have a large enclosure some several hectares in size for their ostriches. All other birds are free ranging, that is, they are part of the natural environment. Watching for birds while on the guided walks or the bus tour is therefore very rewarding; one never knows what one is going to see.
My Bird List
The most obvious bird in the park is the Emu. One is easily able to get good views of this species in many parts of the zoo. Australian Magpies, Galahs, Little Ravens, Masked Lapwings and Red Wattlebirds and Welcome Swallows are also very common. Along the watercourses (which often dry up in summer) I have seen Pacific Black Duck, Black Fronted Dotterels and Magpie Larks.
Scrubland Birds
In the mallee scrubland it is easy to see Singing Honeyeaters, White Plumed Honeyeaters, Spiney Cheeked Honeyeaters, Crested Pigeons, Rufous and Golden Whistlers, Grey Shrike Thrush, Willie Wagtails and Yellow Rumped Thornbills. Striated and Yellow Rumped Pardalotes can been heard calling from the trees all around. On several occasions I have even recorded Flame Robins and Peaceful Doves. Common Bronzewing Pigeons can also been seen and families of White Winged Choughs and White Browed Babblers are very conspicuous.
Parrots
I’ve already mentioned the most common parrot in the park, the Galah. Other species present include Purple Crowned Lorikeets, Red Rumped Parrot and Mallee Ringnecks. Adelaide Rosellas, Cockateil and Budgerigars do occur in the district but I haven’t personally recorded them inside the park boundaries. The same could be said of Elegant Parrots, a species I have seen only a few kilometres south of the park.
Birds of Prey
The only bird of prey I have recorded is the Brown Falcon. It is quite possible to see many other species that are common in the district. These include Wedge Tailed Eagles, Black Shouldered Kite, Nankeen Kestral, Australian Hobby, Black Kite, Little Eagle, Spotted Harrier, Brown Goshawk and Collared Sparrowhawk. Barn Owls, Boobook Owls and Tawny Frogmouths are all present nearby and probably occur in the park too.
This is just a sample of what can be seen within the boundaries of the park. A full list would probably reach a hundred or more different species. Some, like the Rainbow Bee-eater, are seasonal (summer) visitors while others are occasional visitors.
White Browed Babblers
One of my favourite birds is the White Browed Babbler Pomatostomus superciliosus. We often have a family group of five to eight visit our garden here in Murray Bridge, South Australia. They are a dullish brown colour with a white throat and a prominent white eyebrow, hence their name. They are widespread in southern Australia and are often found in dry woodlands, scrubs and mallee areas.
White Browed Babbler
Endearing Calls
Their call is quite distinctive and one of the things I like about them. This morning, while I read the paper, I was aware that they had come close to the house for a visit. Their chattering miaowing calls and whistles are hard to miss. They enjoy hopping around the shrubby bushes in our front and side garden. Sometimes the mulch, bark or leaf litter goes flying in all directions as they search for beetles and other tasty morsels for lunch. Then they will fly up into the mallee trees and search for spiders and other creatures under the bark on the branches.
Nesting
Over more than twenty years of living here I have never recorded them breeding on our property. I have seen them feeding young but haven’t actually seen them using a nest with chicks in it. On one occasion, however, we did see them building a nest. This was in a bush only a few metres from our front door, so we were able to keep a close eye on their activities. The whole family went into a flurry of activity gathering sticks from all over the garden. Within a few hours they had almost finished the untidy mess of sticks they called home. That night they settled into the nest and nearby branches. Next morning they all flew off and never used the nest again.
For a lovely photo click here.
Purple Crowned Lorikeets
4 Comments »2nd April, 2006; Category: Birds, Flowers, General, Murray Bridge, Parrots and Lorikeets, Photos
One species I forgot to mention yesterday was the Purple Crowned Lorikeet. Like many Australian parrots and lorikeets, the Purple Crowned is a gregarious, noisy, restless bird found in many parks and gardens in southern Australia. It ranges south of a line from Geraldton Western Australia through to eastern Victoria (but not Tasmania).
Garden Visitor
I can’t say that they are a resident species in our garden – they don’t seem to stay long enough! When the mallee is in flower they come on rushed sorties into the trees in near the house, feed for a while before screeching off to the next feeding ground. Their underwing patch of red distinguishes them from the slightly larger Musk Lorikeet (which is an uncommon species here in Murray Bridge).
Difficult to photograph
These bright green parrots with a prominent red forehead and purple coloured crown are very difficult to photograph – or so I have found. Many times they just go darting overhead as they pass from one clump of trees to another. When they do decide to stop in our garden they are so cryptic in the leaves and flowers of the eucalyptus tree where they are feeding that it becomes hard to see where the leaf ends and the bird begins. I almost dispair of ever getting a clear photo of this species.
Challenge
One of the field guides* I use regularly describes their flight as “bullet-like”. As they go rocketing across the sky past our garden, their “zitt-zitt-zitt” calls seem to challenge me. “Catch us if you can,” they seem taunt as they fly by.
*Pizzey, G and Knight, F “The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia” (Angus and Robertson 1997)