Tiny but bold, the Striated Pardalote is a little treetop spark you’re more likely to hear than see. They’re button-sized birds with a smart patterned head, a tiny but sturdy bill, and a bright glint in the eye. Depending on the subspecies, they can show yellow around the wing and face, but all share that crisp, finely streaked (striated) look that gives them their name. In Agnes and surrounds, you’ll hear their sharp, repetitive “pick-it-up, pick-it-up” call drifting from the canopy.
Striated Pardalote
Pardalotus striatus
Bird Description:
Special features:
They love the tops of eucalypts, hopping along branches and probing leaves for insects and lerps. Despite their size, they can be surprisingly confiding if you stand quietly beneath a favoured tree. They also like nesting in small hollows, banks, old fence posts and even drainpipes if they get the chance.
Did you know?:
Striated Pardalotes are tiny pest controllers – they specialise in eating lerps (the sugary coverings of sap-sucking insects) that can damage gum trees. That constant “pick-it-up” you hear on a still morning? That’s a whole family working overtime to keep the canopy healthy.
View more information on this bird at Birdlife Australia: https://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Pardalotus-striatus
Size: Very Small
Type of bird: Bush Birds