Voice
An even, soft, whistled, 'weep-weeip', uttered in contact, regularly repeated for long periods. The song is a sequence of clear whistled notes, 'whee, whee-bee' or 'sleep, may-bee'.
Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus) [XC171974]
by Marc Anderson from Barren Grounds, New South Wales, Australia (call)
Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus) [XC37367]
by Eliot Miller from Toohey Forest, Brisbane, Australia (call)
Nest
Domed, composed of bark fibre in a hollowed-out chamber at the end of a tunnel in the ground. Tunnels are usually about half a meter in length.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 6, usually 4; plain white; oval; about 16 x 13 mm. Incubation: 14 - 16 days; by both sexes.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 18 - 25 days.
Subspecies
Most closely related to Forty-spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus quadragintus). Subspecies xanthopyge sometimes treated as a separate species, but intergrades with nominate in South Australia (Mt Lofty Ranges). Subspecies millitaris less clearly distinct.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
punctatus (Shaw & Nodder, 1792) - Coastal and subcoastal south-western, southern, eastern and south-eastern Australia (in east, as far northern as Clarke Range), including Bass Strait islands (King I, Flinders I) and Tasmania.
millitaris Mathews, 1912 - Atherton - Windsor Uplands, north-eastern Qld, south to Seaview Ranges.
xanthopyge McCoy, 1866 - Malle of southern Australia from eastern Riverina of New South Wales and Bendigo, Vic., west through Murray - Mallee and gulfs of SA to Wheatbelt of southern WA (Bremer Bay) ('Yellow-rumped').
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
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet