This morning, as I was working inside, I heard the call of one of my favourite parrots, the Eastern Rosella, pictured above (but not my photo). They are not all that common on the coast, so I am always really pleased and excited when they visit my front yard. BUT...there were 5 of them , squabbling and wabbling away, in my tallest melaleuca shrub!! How fantastic was that!! They mate for life, and so are usually seen in even-numbered flocks, so it got me wondering why there was an odd number of birds in this flock. They are seed-eaters.
This bird is much more common and is seen AND heard in large flocks, eating the honey out of flowers of plants and trees such as bottlebrush, banksia and eucalypt. It's the Rainbow Lorrikeet, another parrot, but is a nectar-eater.
5 comments:
Lucky you, I love them!
I was about to congratulate you on the outstanding quality of your photo. Like you I only occasionally see Eastern Rosellas, and always in pairs, but I had a neighbour who fed them and could get several at a time.
That book I just finished is absolutely fantastic, make sure you bring it to the top of your 'to read' list!
It's amazing someone can see so bright birds in their natural environment! I never saw wild parrots.
They are beautiful. The bottom one reminds me of our painted bunting, but without the parrot head. Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful birds! Oh, so rainbowy!
wild parrots
nothing like that here
just noisy magpies
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