Taking an early morning walk today in the fog, I saw all of those 4 Rainbow Lorikeets again, this time being chased around by the same number of wattle birds as they attempted to get a spot in one of those creamy white flowering eucalypt (not sure of name but they have that thick chunky brown bark) trees which was already heavily crowded by wattle birds. They ended up having to sit in another tree as they got forced out it would seem. I kept walking as it was fairly cold!!
From:
To: ;
Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 14:14:05 +1000
Subject: [canberrabirds] Rainbow lorikeets 'expanding'
21
Years ago I published this article: (1991) ‘The
changing status of the Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus in
South-east
Australia: the role
of wild and escaped birds’, Australian
Bird Watcher 14: 3–9. (Investigates the range increase.) I expanded on this knowledge in The GBS Report.
The
situation has not changed much in Canberra (and region) since then, in that
they are still throughout the region in small numbers and we still don't know
the balance between wild and escaped birds, but it is almost certainly both. It
appears very likely that the group in Hawker & Belconnen
is human assisted but the others seen at various times around Queanbeyan,
Kambah (both of which I have seen them many times over the last nearly 20
years), Wanniassa, etc appear to be wild birds. What is curious is that they
have taken so long at this low population stage and have not yet become
abundant, as they have elsewhere.
Philip
Last
week (Friday) at Oakes Estate while having lunch I was very surprised to see 4
Rainbow Lorikeets fly over, heading West, towards Parliament house. Although
officially ACT it is basically in Queanbeyan. Im used to seeing them in Hawker
& Belconnen more broadly, but didnt expect to see them there.
Benj
Whitworth
