On the Wild Side the Rainbow Lorikeet

Brown, artist and zoologist attached to Marmaduke Tunstall's museum which later became the Newcastle Museum. On the Wild Side (Endeavour was the ship commanded by James Cook when he discovered the The Rainbow Lorikeet eastern Australian coast in 1770.) Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus Lorikeets in Abundance Colorful ' Noisy - Active As far as bird life is concerned, Australia is not only the Land of Graeme Hyde, Australia Parrots but, also the "avian pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow! Conversely, Multi-Colored Memories Strait from Australia. As noted by Pizzey the strikingly colored, noisy and acro enjoyed reading Margrethe "Cape York Peninsula and New Guinea batic Rainbow Lorikeet, symbolizes all Warden's interesting article share many similarities in climate, vege that is wonderful, colorful, and fasci I "Rainbow Lories in American tation and wildlife. In effect they form a nating about the birds of the continent Aviculture" in the Watchbird, Number 2, faunal unit divided about 8000 years ago "Down Under." Of the thirty or so 2002. It brought back pleasant memories after the last Pleistocene ice-sheets melt native Australian species that frequent of visiting the San Diego Wild Animal ed and raised ocean levels round the our front garden or backyard, the Park in August 1994 with my Australian world" (1985). Rainbow Lorikeet, also widely known avicultural colleague, Warwick outside of Australia as Swainson's Remington of Ballarat, Victoria. We The Land of Parrots Lorikeet, is an annual seasonal visitor. were two of the three invited speakers As I sit in my small study, switch Along with the Musk Lorikeet the from Australia at the American ing my gaze from computer to our front Rainbow Lorikeet visits the flowering Federation of Aviculture's Twentieth garden, I often reflect on how fortunate eucalyptus in the front garden when it Anniversary Convention in Knoxville, I am to live in Australia - The Land of is in blossom around December to Tennessee. Following the convention we Parrots. Neville W. Cayley, the out February each year. spent a further two weeks in America and standing Australian naturalist-ornithol Forshaw (2002) confirms that before we left for home visited the San ogist-author-painter, in his important lorikeets are confined to the Papuo Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo's work Australian Parrots-Their Habits Australasian region, being distributed Wild Animal Park. A highlight for both in the Field and Aviary (1938) wrote: from Henderson and Marquesas Islands of us was the large walk-through aviary "The earliest Dutch navigators are west to Mindanao, southern Philippine that featured Rainbow Lorikeets of the credited with having named that part of Islands, and the Sunda Islands, Australasian Region. Along with hun the west coast [of Australia] visited by Indonesia. He acknowledges that they dreds (thousands?) of other visitors that them in the seventeenth century 'The are strongly represented in New Guinea summer's day we fed the Green-naped Land of Parrots'. ... A world map of whereas in Australia there are only six (Rainbow) Lorikeets nectar from a small Mercator (issued in 1569) has upon it a species in three, or possibly two genera. disposable cup. place called 'Terra Psittacorum, The Even though Musk and Rainbow As mentioned by Warden "The Land of Parrots'. This is marked in 45 Lorikeets only visit our garden when term 'Rainbow Lory' is a generic one degrees south, away to the southward they are traveling along what I term applied to over 20 separate brightly col of the Cape of Good Hope." "the eucalyptus blossom trail," and are ored birds. The Rainbow group, Phipps, in Australia s Animals both commonly observed species Trichoglossus haematodus, is comprised Discovered (1980), states the first cap throughout their distribution range, it is of one nominate species, commonly ture of a live Rainbow Lorikeet by always a thrill when one, or both, called the Green-naped Lory, and approx early explorers occurred in May 1770. species arrive to feed themselves on the imately twenty-two subspecies." It was a The bird was taken aboard the nectar of the flowering trees in our gar pleasure for Warwick and I to handfeed Endeavour as a pet where it survived, den, or the neighbor'S garden opposite, noisy Green-naped Lorikeets because due outliving its owner who died on 26 where there is an abundance of native to the 43-year ban on importation of birds December 1770. As a result, the trees. You don't have to see them to into Australia this race of the Rainbow Rainbow Lorikeet has a distinct place know they are present - the raucous Lorikeet is almost unknown in Australian in the history of Australian ornithology noise they make while clambering aviculture. This amazes overseas avicul as it was the first bird from eastern through the foliage in search of food is turists when they realize New Guinea is Australia to reach England alive where easy to discern - even from 50 yards only a few sea miles across the Torres it was painted from life by Peter away! 40 First Quarter 2003 Specific Differences Australia across Northern Australia to Localized Observations Although they lived in Adelaide, the Gulf of Carpentaria, that they are 1. My observation of the the small but beautiful capital city of two distinct subspecies. Rosemary Rainbow Lorikeet where I live (Colac) South Australia, Barry Hutchins and Low, the well-known avicultural author on the eastern fringe of the Western (the late) Bob Lovell traveled widely in and lory specialist, treats moluccanus District of Victoria consists mainly on their desire to study native Australian and rubritorquis as separate subspecies sightings made over a quarter of a cen birds in the wild - especially the par whereas Joseph Forshaw argues quite tury living in the same house in the rots, lorikeets, and cockatoos. Both firmly that they should not be treated as same city. (Colac is the center ofa pros were practicing aviculturists and ama separate "mono-typic species." perous dairy farming area 92 miles teur ornithologists that also enjoyed the Although the discussion about the west of Melbourne, the capital city of bush country and the vast outback Rainbow Lorikeet and the Red-collared Victoria.) We have much larger num countryside of Australia. Their com Lorikeet in the above paragraph may bers of Rainbow Lorikeets, a highly bined experiences eventually resulted seem pedantic, or overly academic, it is a mobile species, when the flowering in the excellent paperback book - brief introduction into the way ornitholo eucalypts are in full bloom compared Australian Parrots: A Field and Aviary gists and taxonomists can, and do, dis with the numbers that arrived annually Study published by the Avicultural agree. (Ab, for the simple life of an avi when we first came here to live. In Society of Australia in 1985. From their culturist!) Stan Sindel, a widely experi January of this year (2003) when experiences, in both aviary and the enced Australian aviculturist who spends checking the bird life on the local tree wild, Hutchins and Lovell believe the a lot of time studying parrots in the wild lined golf course at the end of the street Rainbow Lorikeet T. h. moluccanus, writes: "The Red-collared Lorikeet is where we live I heard the Rainbows which is distributed from Cape York another subspecies of the numerous and long before I saw them. They were Peninsula in Northern Australia right highly successful species Trichoglossus feeding in various native trees includ down the east coast through to Eyre haematodus. Although closely allied to ing a Coast Banksia Banksia integrifo Peninsula in South Australia is, despite the Rainbow Lorikeet, its isolation from fia, the accompanying photographs the similarity to the well-known Red this subspecies and other members of the show the Banksia flower in different collared Lorikeet T. h. rubritorquis, genus has allowed it to evolve with dis stages, from "untouched by lorikeets" from the Kimberley division of Western tinct color patterns" (1987). to "well utilized by lorikeets." CONCENTRAnD FULL SPECTRUM VITAMIN, MINERAL AND LIMITING .d AMINO ACID SUPPLEMENT ~/ • Ultra fine highly palatable powder does not cake Years of formulating and field testing have resulted in the most over time advanced avian supplement. Prime has excelled above all other sup • Penetrates soft foods for accurate dosage plements in providing all species of companion birds with their administration required nutrients. 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