Hawker lorikeets

[Anthony Overs via Canberrabirds <>]

Hi all

Back in March, I reported on Rainbow Lorikeets in Hawker. I finally took the opportunity yesterday to get out for an evening stroll and track down the roost. The lorikeets are roosting in a tall eucalypt with dense foliage, in Goodparla St, about 250m to the east of my home.

I didn’t get a chance to look at the tree closely for identification, however the bole looks like a Spotted Gum. It’s a planted street tree, so it’s coming up to about 50 years old. The roost must have at least 50 birds, possibly more. By the time I got to the tree, most birds were in it and screeching away. I waited and watched for 15 minutes, and more birds arrived in twos and fours. The noise was incredible. Even the dozen or so cockatoos roosting in the same tree looked like they were having trouble putting up with the racket! 

I've just posted a short video of the roost on the Canberra Wildlife Photography Facebook page.

I plan to sit and watch the tree one evening in the next few days prior to sunset to try and make an accurate count.

Cheers

Anthony

On 7 Mar 2022, at 10:38 am, Anthony Overs <> wrote:

Rainbow Lorikeets have being highly successful in the local area. Up until recently the largest group I’ve seen in 11 years was about 25 birds. The last six months saw profuse flowering of eucalypts throughout the suburb and the lorikeets have been all over them. I watched a pair investigate a hollow multiple times in the ‘block of flats’ tree two doors down from me but nothing eventuated. Recently, the lorikeets have been roosting together; they gather close to dusk flying around in a large group before settling down somewhere in the Ambalindum Street and Goodparla Street area in Hawker (I haven’t been able to get around there to find exactly where). In recent days, I’ve estimated at least 40-50 birds in the swirling flock.

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