Pardalotes: Pardalotidae

The diet of pardalotes consists of a wide variety of small, soft-bodied invertebrates (animals without a backbone), including small wasps, spiders, weevils (a destructive beetle with a snout), and termites. They also eat lerps (sugary lumps of secretions made by a particular insect). Pardalotes move quickly around the outer parts of foliage in search of prey from leaves and twigs, which they pick up with their scoop-shaped bills. They frequently hang upside down when foraging. They are not restricted to tree trunks or cones in their foraging, but roam throughout the foliage.