Pardalote Note
Some random web-surfing the other day reminded me of Tasmania’s forty-spotted pardalote, the rarest of Australia’s four species of pardalotes or peep-wrens. Unlike the other three species, the endangered forty-spot is confined to Tasmania, mainly to Bruny Island and Maria Island in the state’s southeast and east. The dots on its wings run closer to sixty than forty, so whoever named it clearly gave up counting too soon.
The forty-spotted pardalote is the subject of one of my favourite family spoonerisms, which I happily share here with the world: the sporty potted fart-a-lot.
