Hi,
The terms "Incubation Period", "Nesting Period" and "Time in Nest" seem to be used quite a lot.
I have not found clear (or consistent) definitions of these terms and wonder if anyone out there can clarify matters for me please?
The reason I ask is because I have a pair of Spotted Pardalotes nesting in a pile of crusher dust that I want to move. They have been in there for about 4 weeks now. The crusher dust must have been pretty hard to remove to form their tunnel/nest so I don't really know when incubation started.
I saw one of the birds coming out of the entrance yesterday which is no help really as both birds share incubation.
Incubation period is the time from the egg being laid, until it hatches, Spotted Pardalotes about 14 days, but then you must wait until the young have fully fledged, and are ready to leave the nest. Sorry, I don't know how long that will be, but I am sure Araminta or one of the others will be along sometime today, and give you more information. Good luck, and I hope you might be able to share some photos soon (if you are able to catch a half decent look at them).
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Hi there, the wrens I had in my garden stayed in the nest for another 2 weeks until they left the nest. But I don't know how long it will take Pardalotes to leave the nest. Sorry. I'm sure someone will know the answer and tell you soon. Good luck
M-L
Hi CooloolaDreaming,
The pardalote eggs hatch after about 15 day and then it takes 25 days for them to be ready to fledge.
I have a pair of Striated pardalotes nesting on our property and they were busy building the nest for about 3 weeks!
I hope this helps
You might need to leave a fair safety gap before you dig in CooloolaDreaming. From what I have seen, nesting pardalotes are furtive and enter/exit the nest burrow very quickly. They are easily missed. An apparent lack of activity may only mean that they are "lying low" between feeding sessions.
Just an idea, but perhaps you could LOOSELY string a couple of lengths of fine cotton over the entrance, maybe anchored by a little soil or pebbles. The birds should be able to push the cotton away easily, but when they vacate the nest and it is no longer being used, the cotton will remain as is.
Thanks everyone for your advice.
The pardalotes started their tunnel about 6 weeks ago now. I will leave it for another 2 weeks and then monitor their activity more closely.
Night Parrot had a good idea about monitoring their coming and going. I think I may have a simpler solution.
There is a raised ridge of finer dust down the centre of the tunnel floor made by their feet when move through it. It doesn't seem to be affected by even strong winds. There is also a scree of fine dust at the base of the pile under the tunnel entrance. What I had planned to do was flatten that ridge for about the length of a paddle pop stick. The idea was that if the ridge doesn't return and the scree is not disturbed then I believe that they will have left.
I may have to revise that plan to putting some fine sand in the entrance because I just had a look at it and the floor of the tunnel is harder than I thought. Poor little birds must have had a hell of a time building it.
Saw one of the pardalotes this morning as well. Usually I only hear them. I have uploaded some pics.
O how beautiful
how lucky are you? I'd be sitting somewhere to watch them all day long
M-L
Good to hear you are letting the birds finish before removing the crusher dust
But looking at your pics i believe you have Striated not Spotted Pardalotes.
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
On looking closely at my high res pics, I think you are correct. Looks like Race melanocephalus - wide black strip through the eye, red spot on the wing and a wide white (?) wing stripe.
The only reason I identified it as a Spotted was that the only pardalotes I had seen around here previously were the spotted. That's another one for my little book of birds in my back yard. I have 43 species now.
Nice co-incidence. Just outside the window this morning I saw a pardalote with a beak full of grass heading for a burrow under the house. The house is on a slope and and the under-floor area is high and open. Probably an ideal spot for a nest. Haven't worked out which species yet. Maybe the yellow-rumped pardalote.
Aren't you lucky? I had some last year, saw 5 a week ago. They had a look but I haven't seen them since
M-L
Lucky you!
I'm tempted to create a dirt embankment at home somewhere, just to have these guys nest there.
I know they're around, as they came in to the next door neighbour's property as soon as they started digging for their building works.
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Many breeding seasons ago I saw striated pardalotes entering & leaving an air brick in the ANZ Bank building in Mt Barker SA. Last weekend I noticed two striated pardalotes calling from a tree next to the same air brick.
What do you call an air brick Woko? A Besser brick? A perforated brick? How do they get inside?
Night Parrot,
An air brick is a metal unit the size of a brick, that is open on the sides for admitting air to a building interior and suspended ground floors. The air bricks.
Air Vents in brickwork.
M-L
Araminta's on the money, Night Parrot. There are four or five air bricks on the western side of this building just under the eaves. There are gaps galore through which the pardalotes can enter & leave the wall cavity. I imagine that in the past, at least, they've laid their eggs on top of the wall or thereabouts.
I removed the pond skin from its hole in early August and a pair of pardolotte moved in. We have been able to observe them very closely and the last couple of weeks they went very quiet. Taking a closer look at the entrance this morning a very small male flew out and stayed close in the wattle tree for an hour before flying off. Do fledged chicks hang around the nest or is this the original male?