I can guarantee, living near a Grey-headed Flying Fox colony, that they do
indeed feed on Grevillea Robusta when in flower. In this area at least
(Newcastle/Lake Macquarie environs), Flying Foxes tend to pay these trees
a visit and then head off to wherever the next best blossoms are going.
It's lucky the flying foxes feed at night as, if they dared attempt to
feed during daylight hours, the Noisy Miners would hunt them out of the
territory. After all, the Noisy Miners do "own" the trees. All of
them...
Having said this, sometimes in a day the Noisies are just too busy
defending other nectar sources to notice that a range of other birds tend
to dip in for a robusta visit: friar birds, lorikeets (Rainbow,
Scaly-breasted), King Parrots, Eastern Rosella, among others.
Craig Williams
> Could it also be that flying foxes aren't usually attracted to Silky Oak
> blossoms?
> I know that different flowering plants usually attract different
> pollinators, the common thought is that Birds are usually attracted to Red
> &
> orange flowers, but there are always exceptions.
>
> Kurtis Lindsay
>
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