Spotted pardalote in sand pile - breeding information needed

["Philip Veerman" <>]

Hello,

 

For general information, Beruldsen's book should give info about the nest itself. Then of course there is HANZAB volume 6. The best information about times etc. would probably be from a well-regarded book called "Canberra Birds: A Report on the first 21 years of the Garden Bird Survey". Isn't it nice that all these data have been compiled and published. By the way, today I posted off my second last copy of the current printing of the book to someone in Alaska.

 

Here is the relevant extract, it doesn't answer all the questions  but is a good base, breeding info in bold:

Spotted Pardalote Pardalotus punctatus

The monthly pattern of this species is regular. From a peak in numbers in April, declines to the low in November before rising smoothly back to the April peak. April is the month of peak honeyeater migration and some pardalotes accompany that. However the pattern for this species is different to that of the honeyeaters and the April peak may be just a coincidence. The long-term abundance pattern has shown random variations, although it is suggestive of a decline.

Breeding commences early with the first inspecting hollows and nest building during early July with active nests peaking in October and extending until January. Dependent young mostly from late October until February. Only 19 of the 151 breeding observations related to post nesting stages. This species nests in low tunnels that can easily be found. Many records go for seven to ten weeks with nesting data, the longest was 20 weeks with what may have been two broods, in Year 14 at Site 251.
Graphs on page: 97, Rank: 21, Breeding Rank: 20, A = 0.61774, F = 77.70%, W = 52.0, R = 28.459%, G = 2.17.

Philip