Although Red-browed Pardalotes are very small bushland birds,
they are in fact the largest of the four species of Australian Pardalotes.
Their crown is black with prominent white spots. They have
yellow-orange supercilia with name-giving red spots in front
of the eyes.
The entire front is fawn to light-grey, sometimes with a small yellow
chest patch.
The back, from the mantle to the uppertail coverts, is orange-brown.
The wing feathers are mostly dark-grey with prominent, broad off-white
edge lining and a similarly prominent orange-buff wing spot.
The uppertail is dark-grey with a white terminal band.
Their irises are pale-yellow. The legs and feet are grey.
The strong, straight bill has a dark upper mandible and an
horn-coloured lower mandible.
Birds in the Lake Eyre Basin tend to be paler than Red-browed Pardalotes
elsewhere, while race "yorki" are more colourful than Red-browed
Pardalotes elsewhere.
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed based
on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.
The global distribution of the Red-browed Pardalote is available
HERE
.
Red-browed Pardalotes are endemic to the Australian continent.
With some small deviations, they are found in the northern
two-thirds of the continent.
There are two races, of which race "yorki" is found on Cape
York peninsula, except the very tip and the south-eastern
base of the peninsula, to the North of Cairns.
Nominate race
"rubricatus" can be found over most of the rest of the
northern parts of the continent, approximately to a line
connecting Carnarvon, WA, with Broken Hill, NSW,
and to a line connecting Broken Hill, NSW, with Yeppoon, QLD.
Occasionally they can be found farther to the East in inland
NSW, up to about Brewarrina, NSW. Within that general range,
they are NOT found in the Top End of the NT, in parts of
the Great Sandy Desert and the Gibson Desert, and along
the coastal fringe of central QLD.
Red-browed Pardalotes have a preference for semi-arid to arid
habitats, ranging from inland watercourses to semi-arid
woodland
and semi-desert
mulgascrub.
Sightings
Click here for sighting information
Race "rubricatus"
J. Greaves reports spotting a Red-browed Pardalote, race
"rubricatus",
at Alyangula, Groote Eylandt, NT, in September 2014.
M. Mackay reports spotting Red-browed Pardalotes, race
"rubricatus",
along the Oodnadatta Road near Coober Pedy, SA, in November 2016.
B. Hensen reports finding Red-browed Pardalotes, race
"rubricatus",
in the township of Alice Springs, NT, in July 2018.
A Red-browed Pardalote, race
"rubricatus",
was found by us at the Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, in
June 2019.
Photos
Race "rubricatus"
ADULT
Sex unknown
Frontal view of a Red-browed Pardalote
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Alice Springs, NT, July 2018]
Frontal/ventral view of a Red-browed Pardalote; this is the bird whose
calls were
recorded on 18 June 2019
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]
Near-frontal view of a Red-browed Pardalote
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Alice Springs, NT, July 2018]
Near-frontal view of a Red-browed Pardalote
(photo courtesy of M. Mackay)
[Oodnadatta Road, near Coober Pedy, SA, November 2016]
Near-lateral view of a Red-browed Pardalote
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Alice Springs, NT, July 2018]
Lateral view of a Red-browed Pardalote (photo courtesy of M. Mackay)
[Oodnadatta Road, near Coober Pedy, SA, November 2016]
Lateral view of a Red-browed Pardalote
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Alice Springs, NT, July 2018]
Ventral view of a Red-browed Pardalote; this is the bird whose
calls were
recorded on 18 June 2019
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]
More Red-browed Pardalote sound recordings are available at
xeno-canto.org
.
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors.
The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.