Number 80: Birding Bruny Island

A Swift Parrot feeding on a Tasmanian Blue Gum

A ferry ride from Kettering and our small party of birders, guided by Steve from Rockjumper, are in the pristine native Tasmanian bush in the far south of Bruny Island. The first lifer was the Swift Parrot, listed as vulnerable, they were fast flying and in and out of the huge flowering Tasmanian Gums.

Number 80:

Birding Bruny Island.

It’s early; I am awake well before dawn listening to the dawn chorus from our Bruny Hotel cottage. The rain has abated and the anticipation for my day of birding at Inala has me excited, Christmas morning excited. The Island has all 12 of the endemics of Tasmania and I am ready for my first full day of birding.

Tonya of Inala has created a very special bush retreat, beautiful Gondwanaland gardens, hides
and a raptor feeding station. Apart from the ‘swifties’, the beautiful Swift Parrots, the target at Inala is the Forty-spotted Pardalote. A tiny bird, which does have spots, I am not sure who counted the forty.

After mugs of coffee and toasties for breakfast, we headed off to the hide, a raised platform to give views into the mid-story of the huge manna gums. And there they were, the pardalotes, easy to get onto, easy to see, which makes it hard to appreciate just how rare they are.

Our target bird, the beautiful and rare Forty-spotted Pardalote

Forty-spotted Pardalote

The Forty-spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus quadragintus) is one of Australia's rarest birds and can now only be found in south eastern Tasmania, including Bruny Island. The bird's name comes from the white spots that appear on its wings.

Habitat

The Forty-spotted Pardalote lives in dry eucalypt forests with white gums. The bird relies exclusively on the white gum trees for nesting and feeding.

Behaviour

The Forty-spotted Pardalote feeds on insects and manna of the white gum. They only nest in the white gum tree.

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