We were up in Narooma again yesterday afternoon and had time for a
quick look at the trees between the visitor's center and the trees
near the olympic pool. It was fairly quiet in general but three Swift
Parrots did fly overhead and land in the trees behind the athletic
building near the pool. For those that don't know the area, these
trees are directly on the Princes Highway, not in a remote location.
I thought I'd put down a few field observations in hopes of helping
others and getting corrections from people that know more than me. In
this area, the only two common small parrots are the Rainbow and Musk
Lorikeets. (I've seen Little and Purple-Crowned Lorikeets in the Bega
Valley Shire just south of Narooma only once each.) I love parrots of
all sorts and constantly have an ear out for them and will stop to
investigate any parrot call I don't immediately recognize. With all of
that in mind, some notes:
* Musk and Rainbow Lorikeet calls can sometimes be confused but are
normally easily distinguishable. Musk Lorikeets have a faster, less
strident and less far-carrying call.
* Swift Parrots have a call that is entirely unlike either Musk or
Rainbow Lorikeets.
* Overhead, the flight profiles of Musk and Rainbow Lorikeets are very
different. Rainbows have much longer tails, Musk Lorikeets beat their
wings more rapidly (?), have a short/stubby/pointed tail, and have
sharper/shorter looking wings. Musk Lorikeets are also a lighter
green.
* In the trees, Rainbow, Musk and Swift Parrots may be distinguishable
by how they move:
-- Musk Lorikeets are always clambering around on the branches,
"hand-over-hand". Rainbows do this, but not as often.
-- Musk Lorikeets _typically_ spend more time in the crowns of the
tree in the thick of the blossoms.
-- Swift Parrots are hyper-active and glean off the leaves, which the
others don't seem to do (?).
-- Swift Parrots seem to spend more time in an upright posture than
the Musk Lorikeets.
I've watched a lot of Musk and Rainbow Lorikeets and very few Swift
Parrots so any corrections will be much appreciated.
* Visually, the three parrots are also distinguishable in the trees.
As Rainbows are so much larger than Musk or Swift, I'd assumed the
problem would come with the two smaller birds.
-- The tails are very different - the Swift Parrot's tail splays out
when it lands more like a Rainbow while Musk Lorikeet tails remain
'neat' all of the time.
-- The red on the face of the Swift Parrot is far more visible and
visible from much further away than a Musk Lorikeet. With a clear look
the two birds are obviously very different so what I'm talking about
here is a poor and distant view. I'd say the two birds would be
distinguishable from a good distance with even a poor view of the
face.
-- The color the Swift Parrot is conspicuously brighter than the
Rainbow or Musk Lorikeets. Yesterday one of the birds I was looking at
had a front that looked almost yellow it was so bright. In fact it was
a green color - but of a very different hue to those of the Musk or
Rainbows.
Again, corrections and additions most welcome! If anyone would like to
add some comparisons regarding other small parrots/lorikeets that
occur in the range of the Swift Parrots, I'd be most grateful.
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
