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General Information
Description:
Rainbow Lorikeets grow to about 30cm with wings to 15 cm and they weigh
around 133g. Males and females are similar but the female is smaller and has
shorter bill. Young birds have duller plumage than adults and also a shorter
bill, body, and wings. Rainbow Lorikeets are active, noisy, belligerent and
conspicuous. They are
strongly gregarious and usually travel in parties of a few dozen but much
larger flocks may congregate where there are is plenty of food. These flocks
are conspicuous because of their noise which can be heard when they
congregate in a favourite spot around sunset.
Voice:
Rainbow Lorikeets screech in flight and make a noisy
chatter while feeding. Flocks flying overhead respond quickly to the calls
of birds feeding in trees below.
Habitat:
Rainbow Lorikeets live in rainforest, open forest, woodland, heath,
mangroves, along watercourses, mallee, gardens, parks, and orchards. They
are considered a lowland species, but in Australia it is not uncommon to
find them in mountainous regions. They are found in Northern Australia from
the Kimberley region to Cape York and in Eastern Australia along the east
coast and around to Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.
Food:
The Rainbow Lorikeets brush tipped tongue is adapted for feeding
on pollen and nectar. They feed throughout the day and 70% of their time is
spent on feeding. The morning feeding session can continue for 4 hours
and they need to feed for 2-5 hours to satisfy their daily requirements.
They can gather the nectar from 30-40 Eucalyptus flowers in a minute and the
feeding bouts are interrupted by short breaks of less than 10 seconds to
look around. They prefer to feed on flowers in the outer foliage of a tree
and when it's hot, they have a break in the middle of the day and return to
a feeding area later. They can make daily journeys to a feeding site of more
50kms. They drink water that has been trapped by leaves or interlocking
fronds and also drink surface water. They also bathe by fluttering among
foliage soaked by due or rain.
Breeding: Like most parrots, Rainbow
Lorikeets are thought to mate for life. The pairs preen and nibble each
other during rest periods and may display minor aggression towards non
paired birds by biting and protesting. They make a nest in a hollow limb or
hole in a tree up to 25m above the ground, with a layer of wood dust at the
bottom. The eggs are laid on the wood dust 0.5-1.5m in from the
entrance to the hole which may be a knot-hole or from a broken-off branch.
Often, a number of hollows are investigated before one is chosen. Nesting
can continue for 8 months annually beginning around March.
Rainbow Lorikeets don't nest in rainforest but prefer more open country.
The female lays 2, sometimes 3, white, oval-shaped eggs but a pair can
produce up to 3 lots of eggs in a season. The eggs take about 25 days to
hatch, with the female sitting on the eggs although the male spends time in
the nesting hollow with the female. Both parents feed the young and the
young birds leave the nesting hollow for the first time after 7-8 weeks but
return to the nest to roost for a short time. They may then remain with the
parents over summer before moving into the larger flock.
Reference: Information -
Australian Wildlife
Photos: © G. Crew, D. Marino 2003/2005, W. Reed
Some information and pictures were taken from children's charts and
where credited to that child does not claim to be original information.
Where possible, permission to reproduce has been sought and ownership
credited. Any infringement of copyright is purely unintentional and
ownership of pictures and information used is freely acknowledged.
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