Bird of the month – Rainbow Lorikeet
We certainly love rainbows around here, and no one wears one better than our cover model, the cheeky rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus).
The stunning spectrum of this parrot is a common sight on the east coast of Australia, but it is undeniably one of the most vividly hued birds that call here home.
It can be distinguished by its deeply iridescent blue head, greenish-yellow collar and green wings, back and tail.
The chest is orange/yellow. The belly is deep blue, and the thighs and rump are green.
A veritable rainbow with wings!
To tell the bubs from the mums, juveniles have a black beak, which gradually brightens to orange in the adults.
Their diet consists mainly of fruit, pollen, and nectar, and the end of their tongue has a papillate appendage made for gathering pollen and nectar from flowers.
It’s important to note that feeding them bread or bread coated with honey is incredibly harmful to their development and should never be done.
The eggs of the rainbow lorikeet are laid on chewed, decayed wood, usually in a hollow branch of a eucalypt tree. Both mum and dad prepare the hollow for the eggs and feed the young, but only the female incubates the eggs.
Melissa Marie
