Nesting pardalotes

["calyptorhynchus ." <>]

I've put a variety of containers around the place for many years but had no Pardalotes nesting (that we know of). They do come every July-August and investigate every unsuitable and vulnerable nook (but never look at my containers) for a few days.

John Leonard

On 8 May 2017 at 16:34, John Harris <> wrote:

The answer is to provide raised nesting ‘boxes’ . Pardalotes do nest in banks in the wild and may be attracted to compost heaps but they also nest in small tree hollows. In my daughter’s place in Palmerston they nest every year in a hanging flower pot. It has an attached saucer and they get in through the space between the saucer and the pot and have burrowed into the soil. They will nest in brick wall cavities  etc etc if there is a little hole. 

They like a small tunnel entrance leading to a well insulated space (especially in cold Canberra).

It should not be hard to make a nesting box which provides that. You don’t need to be a professional. They need a bit of a tunnel as small as 3 cm diameter leading to a nest area half full of dry grass, bark strips etc for insulation, especially in Canberra. I think you could even make one out of a covered  plastic flower pot with a cut off scrap of 30mm PVC pipe. If I were doing it, I would fix it in a tree or even high on the outer edge of a verandah and face the hole away from prevailing wind and bright light at night. I have thought of doing it but haven’t got around to it. Besides, my daughter’s hanging basket works just fine. Cheers

John

From: "David McDonald (personal)" <>
Date: Monday, 8 May 2017 at 4:04 PM
To: chatline <m("canberrabirds.org.au","canberrabirds");" target="_blank">org.au>
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Nesting pardalotes

BLA has specs for nest boxes, incl http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/sites/www.birdsinbackyards.net/files/page/attachments/Spotted%20Pardalote_0.pdf - a 30 mm entrance hole is what they recommend - regards - David

On 8/05/2017 1:51 PM, Joan Lipscombe wrote:

A friend has sought advice about how he can protect his Spotted Pardalotes from predators when nesting in his garden.  One nest in his compost heap was predated by a cat, another, in a pile of soil, was attacked by ants.  He wondered if an nesting box buried in his compost heap with just the entrance showing would work. It might help withe the cats, but presumably not the ants.  Does anyone know what size opening would be right for the pardalotes ( I presume it would have to be a certain size to attract them).  Any thoughts, suggestions appreciated.

Joan

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John Leonard
Canberra
Australia
www.jleonard.net

I want to be with the 9,999 other things.