In his revised edition (1971) of Neville Cayley's "Australian Parrots in
Field and Aviary", Alan Lendon quotes (at p.24) from Cayley's field
notes on the Musk Lorikeet :" For a breeding place it usually selects a
very small hole or the elbow of a limb of a tree, and mostly a living
gum tree. If one wishes to know, without chopping it out, if a hole is
occupied by the parrot, one has only to place one's nose near the hole;
if present the strong musky odour associated with the bird will be
evident."
But perhaps the "musky odour" emanates from conditions in the nesting
hole rather than from the birds themselves. Joseph Forshaw in
"Australian Parrots" (2nd edition (1981) at p. 50 , noting the received
wisdom as ro the origin of the bird's name, comments that in handling
live Musk Lorikeets he has never noticed that they smelt any differently
from other parrots.
Perhaps an aviculturalist or a zoo-keeper could comment further.
Regards,
Colin Scouler.
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