Lorikeet
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/paint/subjects/birds/printouts/Rainbowlorikeet.shtml
Rainbow Lorikeet: Trichoglossus haematodus
The Rainbow Lorikeet is a medium sized parrot, ranging from 25-30 cm in size, and has a wingspan of about 17 cm. The plumage (hence the name) is very bright and colourful. The head is deep blue with a greenish-yellow collar, and the rest of the upperparts (wings, back and tail) are deep green. Rainbow Lorikeets often travel together in pairs and occasionally respond to calls to fly as a flock, then disperse again into pairs. These Lorikeets feed mainly on fruit, pollen and nectar, and possess a tongue adapted especially for their particular diet.
http://www.wildlifehabitat.com.au/rainlands.html
Habitat
Rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas. In some areas, wild rainbow lorikeets are so used to the human population that they can be hand fed.
Wild Diet
Fruit, pollen and nectar. The lorikeets have a specially adapted tongue for this diet.
Behavior
As their name suggests they are very colorful birds with a red bill, blue head, orange breast and green wings. They also have a reddish band on the back of the neck. At night rainbow lorikeets will roost in groups of up to 50,000 individual birds.
Breeding
Rainbow lorikeets mate for life and can have up to three broods in any one breeding season. They nest in empty tree hollows, laying two white oval shaped eggs at a time. The female will then incubate the eggs.
Interesting Fact
They are also known as the Swainson's lorikeet.
Threats
Rainbow lorikeets in their natural range are not under threat. They were introduced to New Zealand, and have been so successful that they are now considered a pest, with measures being taken to control their numbers. Predators of the lorikeet include raptors and pythons.
info.... Latin name:
Trichoglossus haematodus swainsoni
Class:
Birds
Family:
Psittacidae
IUCN status:
Least Concern
http://www.newquayzoo.org.uk/animals-plants/animals/details/rainbow-lorikeet
Appearance Size
- The 'Rainbow Lorikeet' is, as the name suggests, literally all the colours of the rainbow.
- It is found along the east coast and throughout the tropics of Australia where it can be very common and numerous.
- It is often heard whizzing by in flocks above the rainforest canopy.
- Due to the height and thickness of the canopy, these birds are more commonly noticed on the edge of the forest or in urban areas where there are appropriate flowering trees.
The Rainbow Lorikeet is a medium sized parrot, ranging from 25-30 cm in size, and has a wingspan of about 17 cm. The plumage (hence the name) is very bright and colourful. The head is deep blue with a greenish-yellow collar, and the rest of the upperparts (wings, back and tail) are deep green. Rainbow Lorikeets often travel together in pairs and occasionally respond to calls to fly as a flock, then disperse again into pairs. These Lorikeets feed mainly on fruit, pollen and nectar, and possess a tongue adapted especially for their particular diet.
http://www.wildlifehabitat.com.au/rainlands.html
Habitat
Rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas. In some areas, wild rainbow lorikeets are so used to the human population that they can be hand fed.
Wild Diet
Fruit, pollen and nectar. The lorikeets have a specially adapted tongue for this diet.
Behavior
As their name suggests they are very colorful birds with a red bill, blue head, orange breast and green wings. They also have a reddish band on the back of the neck. At night rainbow lorikeets will roost in groups of up to 50,000 individual birds.
Breeding
Rainbow lorikeets mate for life and can have up to three broods in any one breeding season. They nest in empty tree hollows, laying two white oval shaped eggs at a time. The female will then incubate the eggs.
Interesting Fact
They are also known as the Swainson's lorikeet.
Threats
Rainbow lorikeets in their natural range are not under threat. They were introduced to New Zealand, and have been so successful that they are now considered a pest, with measures being taken to control their numbers. Predators of the lorikeet include raptors and pythons.
info.... Latin name:
Trichoglossus haematodus swainsoni
Class:
Birds
Family:
Psittacidae
IUCN status:
Least Concern
http://www.newquayzoo.org.uk/animals-plants/animals/details/rainbow-lorikeet
Appearance Size
- head and body length 30cm (1ft); wing 15 cm (6in)
- weight around 133g (5oz)
- males and females are similar but female is smaller and has shorter bill
- immature birds have duller plumage than adults; also shorter bill, body, wing
- live to over 20 years in the wild
- active, noisy, belligerent, conspicuous
- strongly gregarious; usually travel in parties of a few dozen; much larger flocks congregate where there are is plenty of food
- brush tipped tongue - adaptation for feeding on pollen and nectar
use powder downs - special down feathers with the tip constantly breaking down to form a waxy powder that the bird spreads through the plumage during preening - bathe by fluttering among foliage soaked by due or rain
- screech in flight; noisy chatter while feeding
- flocks flying overhead respond quickly to the calls of birds feeding in trees below
- pollen is a rich source of protein; major component of the diet
- nectar, blossoms mainly from Myrtaceae, Proteacea, Xanthoroaceae
- fruits, berries, seeds, occasionally insects (beetles, wasps, thrips, ants, weevils) and larvae (fly maggots, weevil larvae, moth larvae)
- also apples, pears, mangos - can cause damage to orchards
- also maize and sorghum crops where they feed on the unripe 'milky' grain
- feed throughout the day
- 70% of their time is spent feeding
- morning feeding session can continue for 4 hours
- need to feed for 2-5 hours to satisfy their daily requirements
- feeding rate : 30-40 Eucalyptus flowers per minute
- feeding bouts are interrupted by short breaks of less than 10 seconds to look around
- prefer to feed on flowers in the outer foliage of a tree
- when it's hot, they have a break in the middle of the day and return to a feeding area later
- daily journeys to feeding site of more 50kms (30miles)
- drink water that has been trapped by leaves or interlocking fronds; also drink surface water
- Arrangement of the toes and use of the bill make them acrobatic feeders
- extract nectar with their brush-tipped tongue after first crushing the flowers with their bill; tiny hair-like projections (papillae) on the end of the tongue are extended while feeding to soak up nectar and gather pollen from blossoms
- use open bill in sideways brushes up and down the sides of spiked flowers like Xanthorrhoea, Banksia, Melaleuca, Callistemon; this collects pollen and nectar droplets on the edge of their bills
- place open bill over a blossom and project their tongue into the receptacles to get at the nectar then comb their bill across the stamens to collect pollen
- for hard fruits of rainforest trees, they grate the fruit on the inside of their open bill
- extract seeds from sheoak cones and pieces by using the tip of the upper mandible to ease the winged seed from the dehiscing cone
sweet, fleshy fruits are removed from seed by rolling it with their tongue against the plates inside the upper mandible - chew green Eucalyptus flower and leaf buds
- very fast with rapid wing beats
- fly high when travelling long distances; on short flights maneuver between trees
- establish flight paths from the roosting sites that are followed daily; these paths tend to follow geographic features like the coastline or a line of hills, valleys, rivers
- daily journeys to feeding site of more 50kms (30 miles)
- have established flight paths to and from the roost that are 2-4km wide (1.2-2.4 miles)
- the wing loadings and aspect ratios of their wings mean that they have difficulty landing and taking off from the ground but that they have an advantage for long-range flight at high speed
- although tens of thousands of birds may gather overnight in a roost, during the day they tend to move in smaller groups
- usually groups of less than 10 birds leave the roost together in the morning
- throughout the day, travelling flocks have about 16 members
- feeding flocks may number up to 20 birds
- sometimes see very large flocks of up to 1000 birds when several travelling flocks land before returning to the roost
- rainforest, open forest, woodland, heath, mangroves, along watercourses, mallee, gardens, parks, orchards considered a lowland species, but in Australia it is not uncommon to find them in mountainous regions - they may be altitudinal migrants
- northern Australia from Kimberley region to Cape York
- eastern Australia along the east coast and around to Eyre Peninsula in South Australia also occur in the regions of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia
- reproductive cycle, community organization, and movements are determined by the flowering patterns of their food resources
- local patterns of distribution have altered with the introduction of food sources in suburban gardens
- nomadic - go where the food is; food resources tend to be abundant but short-lived; however, they can remain within an area if there are enough food patches to sustain them throughout the year
- raptors - peregrine falcon, brown falcon, whistling kite
- diamond python
- frequently seen with Scaly-breasted Lorikeets
- may also flock with Musk or Little Lorikeets
- unlike many native birds, the Rainbow Lorikeet competes successfully against Indian Mynas and Starlings for nesting hollows
- will chase much larger birds from what it considers to be its food; also chase Scaly-breasted Lorikeets and Noisy Friarbirds from flowers that they fancy
- birds are thought to mate for life (like most parrots) pairs preen and nibble each other during rest periods
- resting pairs display minor aggression towards non-pair birds by biting and protesting
- hollow limb or hole in a tree up to 25m (80 ft) above the ground, with a layer of wood dust at the bottom; eggs are laid on the wood dust 0.5-1.5m (1.5-5 ft) in from the entrance to the hole which may be a knot-hole or from a broken-off branch a number of hollows are investigated before one is chosen
- nesting can continue for 8 months annually beginning around March
- doesn't nest in rainforest, prefers more open country
- 2 (rarely 3) white, oval-shaped eggs
- a pair can produce up to 3 broods in a season
- female incubated even though the male spends time in the nesting hollow; lasts about 25 days
- both parents feed the young. young leave the nesting hollow for the first time after 7-8 weeks but return to the nest to roost for a short time;
- fledglings may remain with the parents over summer before moving into the communal roost
- birds reach sexual maturity after two years
- roost size varies seasonally - can be up to 50,000 birds
- in autumn and winter, non-breeding birds use a communal roost while breeding birds roost in nest hollows
- commute to feeding grounds usually found within a 35km (20 miles) radius of the roost; major roosts tend to be found at roughly 70km (43 miles) intervals; minor roosts are found between the major ones; these are used on a temporary basis often with Scaly-breasted Lorikeets
- leave in semi-darkness; often the first birds that are active for the day; on misty mornings, flocks leaving the roost circle and gain height perhaps in order to recognize landforms
- at the end of the day, return to communal roost before sunset but there is lots of activity and noise in the roosting trees as the birds jostle for position and this continues well after dark
- day roost (10-100 birds) - during the heat of the day they mutually preen or strip leaves and twigs from branches; single birds or pairs return after feeding briefly
- searching for new food sources may occur during flights to and from the roost and during the middle of the day
- place for newly independent fledglings; this allows their parents to re-nest and helps inexperienced birds learn where food is, what food to eat, and feeding techniques (all of which could also be learned from parents)
- reduce the variance in food intake by
- (a) sharing information about the location of food resources which tend to be ephemeral and hence birds need to be continually on the lookout for new sources; this is unlikely in areas where flowering is widespread;
- (b) individuals can tell whether returning birds are well-fed and so can follow these well-fed birds on the following day to their food resources
- as a singles venue where non-breeding birds can find mates; this would tend to synchronize breeding
- security in numbers in respect of danger
- high pitched wheeze
- made when disturbed at nesting sites or feeding on low shrubs
accompanied by wing flapping and sideways movements of the head
- saying 'Here I am'
- made by pairs talking to each other when feeding, resting, preening
- made in flight when searching for other birds or for food