Re: Rainbow Lorikeets around Melbourne

["Philip A Veerman" <>]

Nigel Sterpin wrote:


>I was at Westerfolds Park (Templestowe) this morning and the amount of
>Lorikeets concerns me. I checked my Gould Leauge Urban Birds Volume and
>noticed that Rainbow Lorikeets were 'accidental' circa 1960's. On a
>personal observation level, they were nowhere near as common 10 years ago.
This is quite correct. I am pleased to say that it has already been noted
and I remain surprised that even though I no longer reside in Melbourne but
visit regularly, I managed to get in first and make that point in print. See
my 1991 article "The Changing Status of the Rainbow Lorikeet in South-east
Australia: the role of Wild and Escaped Birds" in Australian Bird Watcher
14(1):1-9. However I can say that although the increase in Melbourne has
continued (I was there 3 weeks ago), the increase in Canberra as described
in my article does not appear to have continued.