Eastern Bass Strait (Flinders I) and south-eastern Tasmania, including some offshore islands (Schouten, Maria, Bruny).
 
Tasmania, including King Island (where it may now be extinct) and Flinders Island.
 
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 3,800 (2010) and stable.
Status EN
Habitat clearance and aggressive behaviour of Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala) and introduced Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) are the main threats.
Habits
Usually in pairs, although in flocks in the colder months.
Food
Insects, procured among foliage or from under bark.
Voice
An even, soft, whistled, 'wheet-whoo', uttered in contact, regularly repeated for long periods. A louder, nasal, 'twnnt' is uttered in the breeding season.
Forty-spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus quadragintus) [XC858790]
by Jonathan Neumann from Maria Island, Glamorgan-Spring Bay Council, Tasmania, Australia (call, flight call, song)
Forty-spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus quadragintus) [XC794625]
by id from South Bruny Island, TAS, Australia (call)
Nest
Cup-shaped or domed, composed of bark fibre and lined with fine grass, in a hollow trunk or stub up to 20 m above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 5; lustrous white; oval; about 17 x 13 mm. Incubation: about 16 days; by both sexes.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 25 days.
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Most closely related to Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus). Single specimen from King I (western Bass Strait) named as a geographical subspecies rex, but indistinguishable from birds elsewhere in range.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9