At home in a hay shed #2

Last month we had a story of a Nankeen Kestrel that has taken up residence in our hay shed. Now we learn that there’s a bale of hay in the shed at the Three Sisters property near Flowerdale that won’t be available for stockfeed for a while. A pair of Striated Pardalotes has taken advantage of the holes made by spikes on the tractor used to lift large round bales, and has adopted one of the holes as a tunnel to their nest chamber inside the bale. The two birds can be seen in the picture at left.

Striated Pardalotes usually build their nest in a tree hollow, or tunnel into a creek bank or roadside cutting, but are known to be opportunists and can nest in vent pipes, cracks in house walls or, in one case in our shed, a stack of polystyrene boxes.
 
Their “chip-chip” call can be heard around the district at present. Click on the audio bar below for a sample of their calls, which includes their soft contact trills, recorded locally.

Thanks to David Hubbard for the story and photos.