The first monograph about the birds belonging to the genus Pardalotus. The four species, endemic to the Australian continent, are extensively treated in 167 pages and the book is illustrated with hundred original artworks.
Taxonomic History
8 Timeline
10 From genus Pipra to Pardalotidae family
10 1783. Striped-headed Manakin by J. Latham
11 Striped-headed Manakin illustrations
12 1789. Systema Naturae, 13th edition by J. F. Gmelin
14 1792. G. K. Shaw names and describes the second pardalote
15 1805. A. G. Desmarest doubts that pardalotes belong to Manakins
16 1806. A new concept appears in the classification, the Family
16 1815. C. S. Rafinesque proposes a universal classification
18 1816. A French ornithologist called Vieillot
20 1822. Volume 25 of the Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles is published
20 1825. An unlikely African pardalote, Pardalotus africanus Leadbeater, 1829
22 1826. C. J. Temminck names four new pardalotes
26 1826. J.F. Stephens names Pardalotus australis
27 1826. Pardalotus gularis by J.F. Stephens
28 1828. R. P. Lesson's first project for the classification of birds
28 1830. R. P. Lesson names Pardalotus pipra
30 1831. Lesson moves the genus Pardalotus into Mésanges family
30 1831. Pardalotus cristatus moves to genus Calyptura
32 1836. Charles Darwin and H.M.S. Beagle in Australia
34 1837. John Gould, the bird man
40 1839. John Gould meets Benjamin Bynoe in Sidney
44 1842. Pardalotus luctuosus by J.B.Hombron & H. Jacquinot
45 1842. Innovative ideas by E. Strickland
46 1843. Müller describe Pardalotus obsoletus
48 1849. Pardalotes' classification by G. E. Gray
50 1866. Yellow-backed diamond bird, a matter of priority
56 1874. The genus Pardalotus is moved to the Dicaeidae family
56 1878. Pardalotus assimilis by E. P. Ramsay
58 1885. Sharpe describes his Dicaeidae family
60 1899. Pardalotus gracilis by R. Hall
62 1909. Campbell named a new pardalote sp. from North-Western Australia
63 1911. The first field guide on Australian Birds by J.A. Leach
64 1912-24. G.M. Mathews' pardalotes
74 1926. The 2nd edition of the Official Checklist of the Birds of Australia is printed
76 1946. "Revision of the Striped-crowned Pardalotes" by Hindwood & Mayr
79 The concept of sibling species
80 1947. Rapid evolutionary change of bill shape in the Dicaeidae
82 1961. F. Salomonsen publishes Notes on Flowerpeckers
86 1978. P. Slater publishes the book Rare and Vanishing Australian Birds
Pardalotes' taxonomy
88 Pardalotidae family
90 Genus Pardalotus
91 Evolutionary relationship among pardalotes
92 Species, subspecies and synonyms
Pardalote body topography
96 Head
97 Upperwing and Body
Forty-spotted pardalote
98 Pardalotus quadragintus
100 Geneal notes
100 Habitat
102 Edworthy's researches on this threatened species
Spotted pardalote
108 Pardalotus punctatus
108 General notes
112 Male and female, differences in coloration
114 Intraspecific variability
116 Young and immature birds
118 P. p. militaris and P. p. xanthopyge
Striated pardalote
120 Pardalotus striatus
120 General notes
122 Striated pardalote, one, two or more species ?
124 Streaked-headed group
129 Male and female
130 Black-headed group
Red-browed pardalote
134 Pardalotus rubricatus
134 Distribution
136 Habitat
136 Red-browed pardalote and its closest relatives
138 Food
138 Breeding behaviour
Natural history
142 Nest
148 Food
152 Voice
154 Behaviour
Bibliography
Index