pardalote

plural pardalotes

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

   2 more examples

   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

   Synonyms: diamond bird, peep-wren