This morning I took a leisurely stroll round Wilson Reserve, on the
Yarra bank in Ivanhoe (Vic).
Two Rainbow Lorikeets were very busy feeding in the lower branches
of a Silver Wattle /Acacia dealbata. /I wondered what they were eating,
so inspected them with binoculars at close quarters. They were nibbling
their way into the galls which form on Silver Wattles - I believe some
bug lays eggs on the flower buds, with the result that an irregular
woody lump, an inch or more in diameter, forms on the branch. At this
time of year the galls are green in colour. I presume the Lorikeets
were after the larva or small grub inside - they seemed to be abandoning
the galls after they had reached the centre, leaving a chewed remnant on
the twig, which was otherwise intact. I have seen this behaviour
several times before. I have not heard of them taking any kind of
insect food before. (Of course insectivorous birds, particularly
Shrike-Tits, attack these galls as a matter of course.
I have also sometimes seen Rainbows, and also Musk Lorikeets,
chewing the twigs when the wattles were in flower in the spring. The
branches were left quite ragged and frayed. In that case I assumed that
they were obtaining the nectar from the glands along the branchlets
between the leaves.
Anthea Fleming
Ivanhoe
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