On my last day visiting the Goschen Bushland Reserve, I was exploring a section with a small grove of Mallee trees and I heard the unmistakable call of the small Striated Pardalote (about the size of a finger). It can be a difficult bird to photograph as it usually remains high in the canopy feeding on lerp and small insects so I froze and waited to see if it was as near as it sounded. I noticed the Pardalote fly down to the side of a Mallee with a small moth in its mouth. It disappeared into a tiny hole, quickly flew back out and took off across the grassy field to the brush on the other side. I found a position behind some close by trees and waited for it to return. Ten minutes later one of the parents turned up without any food squeezed into the holed and re-appeared with a faecal sack, flew to a nearby branch, discarded it and flew off to continue the hunt. Between feedings there are always house cleaning chores to keep the nest tidy.
Striated Pardalote at nest hole, Goschen Bushland Reserve, Goschen, Victoria, 2 Oct 2016
Striated Pardalote nest hole
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Striated Pardalote at nest hole
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Tight fit
In
Just dropped a faecal sack from the nest – this how many birds keep the nest clean and tidy, the chicks expel a sack of poo that the parent grabs and takes from the next and drops away from the area, leaving no indication of a nest.
Striated Pardalote.
The Gap Year and Beyond 