Today we have one of Australia’s smallest, but most beautiful birds, the Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus).
Just look at that jewelled beauty, with its polka-dot crown, yellow bib, and red tail. It’s no wonder they used to be known as Diamond Birds. A name which would have been far easier to pronounce. However, as odd a word as Pardalote is, it is pronounced exactly how it looks: par-da-lote. But what does the word mean? It is derived from the Greek ‘pardalotos’, which means spotted. So this bird is the Spotted Spotted. Neat.
Having said that, it can be incredibly difficult to spot a Spotted Pardalote. Even though they’re relatively common on Australia’s east coast, they have a habit of hiding high in the treetops. Often they’re more easily identified by their distinctive calls, sometimes described as sounding like the phrase ‘sleep-may-be’. When foraging apart, pairs will call out to let each other know where they are. But their calls are so closely timed together that it sounds like a single call coming from two directions, making it even harder to find these tiny beauties.
Now, you would expect a bird like this to make a cute little cup-shaped nest, probably hidden in a thick bush, like many similar small birds do. But the Spotted Pardalote don’t do like other birds do. These tiny guys are burrowers. They dig horizontal tunnels up to a metre and a half long, which they line with shredded bark and other soft material to make a safe, hidden home for their babies.
Some of you out there may be thinking, ‘hey I’ve heard of this Pardalote bird before, but I thought they were super rare’. Well, that is the closely related Forty-spotted Pardalote from Tasmania. You can tell them apart from the normal Spotted Pardalote by very carefully counting their spots while they flit about high in the canopy … that, or you could just use the fact that you’re standing in Tasmania. Now, those ones are rare indeed, one of Australia’s rarest birds in fact, but theirs is a story of another week.
But after learning about a bird so spotty they named it twice, you might be wondering just how birds get their names in the first place. Well, good news, because our latest audio story dives into that question. Who is in charge of naming birds? Do they have rules? Can they be broken? Is there any controversy? Is it ridiculous? The answer to all those questions is yes, and you can hear it all right here (apple, spotify).
14/11/21
Bird of the Week 