Dear Syd and Chris, and anyone else interested -
Today I checked the needles of a Casuarina which had unpruned branches
close to the ground. At the end of some of the needles - about one in
each bunch - was a tiny circular structure like a little knob on the
end. This proved to be a gall, still soft enough to split with a
finger-nail with a tiny (barely visible) white larva inside. Perhaps the
Rainbow Lorikeets were trying these?
I'm not a casuarina expert and I'm not sure that the tree is the same
species as the one next door (probably River Oak).
Anthea Fleming
Chris Sanderson wrote:
>
> I had a recent record of Red-Collared Lorikeets feeding in a casuarine
> here in Broome. They were probably feeding on the seeds. Also saw
> some feral Rainbow Lorikeets at Cottesloe in Perth doing the same
> thing a few months back.
>
> Regards,
> Chris - Broome
>
> On Wed, 09 Feb 2005 21:58:40 +1000, Syd Curtis <>
> wrote:
> >
> > I recall seeing, (with some surprise), rainbow lorikeets feeding on
> > casuarina seeds in the trees beside the Byron Bay Surf Life-saving
> Club, but
> > not behaving in that way. Intriguing.
> >
> > Syd
> >
> > > From: Brian Fleming <>
> > > Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2005 18:30:19 +1100
> > > To: "" <>
> > > Subject: [BIRDING-AUS] Rainbow Lorikeets in Casuarina
> > >
> > > Our neighbour has a very large Casuarina, probably a River Oak,
> planted
> > > next to the boundary fence. Not many birds stop in it for any
> length of
> > > time, except in passing, so we were surprised this morning to see
> at
> > > least four Rainbow Lorikeets apparently feeding on the needles of
> the
> > > upper branches. They were hanging head down and apparently chewing
> the
> > > needles or running them through their bills. What food could they
> have
> > > been finding? After the rain we have had, I don't think they
> needed to
> > > be drinking from wet leaves.
> > >
> > > Anthea Fleming,
> > > Ivanhoe, Vic.
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