Dictionary

pardalote en · NOUN

Etymology

Back-formation from New Latin Pardalotus, from Ancient Greek παρδαλωτός (pardalōtós, “spotted like a leopard”), from Ancient Greek πάρδος (párdos, “leopard”).

Meanings

1. Any of the Australian birds of the genus Pardalotus, which feed on lerps.
   • They are pardalotes, tiny little feathered jewels with stubby bills and stubby tails, giving an oddly ladybird-like silhouette. 2011, Ian Fraser, Peter Marsack, A Bush Capital Year: A Natural History of the Canberra Region, page 137:
   • Pardalotes, honeyeaters and thornbills are among several birds that feed on carbohydrate-rich sugars from trees: manna, the crystalline sap which oozes from injuries to trees made by insects or other animals; honeydew, the exudate of sap-sucking coccids and aphids; and lerps, the protective sugary coating of psyllid larvae. 2011, Penny Olsen, Leo Joseph, Stray Feathers: Reflections on the Structure, Behaviour and Evolution of Birds, CSIRO Publishing, page 258:
   • The forty-spotted pardalote (Pardalotus quadragintus) is the first Australian bird found to encourage trees to release manna, a sugary crystallised sap. 2016 March 12, “Mining bird farms trees for manna”, in New Scientist, number 3064, page 16:

Forms

Deriveds

red-browed pardalote · forty-spotted pardalote · striated pardalote · yellow-rumped pardalote · black-headed pardalote · spotted pardalote · yellow-tipped pardalote

Relateds

Pardalotidae

Synonyms

peep-wren · diamond bird