Rainbow Lorikeet screechfest in Hughes

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I've just been watching 12-14 pairs of Rainbow Lorikeets playing in the rain in tall eucalypts nr Hughes Oval.

They seemed to stay in pairs, but be screeching loudly, mock fighting, taking off in pairs to do low fast circuits returning to the same tree and generally having a good time. The Noisy Miners were on hand to shut things down, but there was nothing they could do and they sat around glumly watching.

I am familiar with large noisy gatherings of RL down the coast and in SE Qld. Is it just that 12-14 pairs is a critical mass for them to start behaving like a large flock?

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John Leonard