Striated Pardalote (Pardalotus striatus)

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Striated Pardalote
(Pardalotus striatus)

Sightings

We spotted birds of race "substriatus" in the Flinders Range, South Australia, in March 2008. The wing spot is red and the head is entirely striated.

In the years prior to 2007, we spotted Striated Pardalotes only a few times in our area, near Narrabri, New South Wales. Sightings were 20-25 km south of Narrabri, 25 km west, 30 km north and 20 km east of town, indicating a widespread distribution.

Then a pair of Striated Pardalotes built its nest close to our place 20 km east of Narrabri in 2007/08. They nested later than Speckled Warblers and stayed around the place throughout spring and summer, during which they could be seen and heard around the house frequently and, starting in January, their offspring came around.

The classification of the birds found in northern NSW is difficult, because this is the transition zone between two races. The first two photos below show that the wing spot is red. The forehead is solid black, but behind the eyes and in the neck the birds are striated. This indicates a mixture between races "melanocephalus" (black-headed) and "substriatus" (striated head). Since the tops of the heads of the adult birds are so dark, they are probably subspecies "melanocephalus".