Is anyone else seeing lots of lorikeets around, particularly in Victoria? It seems to be a boom year for them here, but that could be just my perception because we are getting greater numbers, and greater diversity, than usual. Perhaps we have the best flowering eucalypts in the region!
Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve had dozens of Musk Lorikeets, and occasional sightings of Purple-crowned and Littles in smaller numbers. It’s hard to get an accurate count because they are so mobile, but Musks have been recorded at almost every time of the day, every day. Littles and Purple-crowned have been in small groups or pairs – I’ve noticed one or the other almost every day, so it’s likely they’ve been here the whole time.
Rainbow Lorikeets are very conspicuous throughout most of the Geelong urban area, but are not usually present around here, on the northern shore of Corio Bay, but for the last couple of weeks I’ve seen them around home most days, up to 6 birds at a time. We’ve also had Red-rumped Parrots a few times recently – another bird I’ve only recorded at home about 3 or 4 times in nearly 20 years.
SO is it a great year for lorikeets because it’s a good year for flowering gums? Or are we just lucky that they’ve all decided to spend February in our trees?
I haven’t noticed changes in other species attracted to the flowering eucalypts, although the New Holland and White-plumed Honeyeaters seem to have bred prolifically, something that doesn’t happen every year.
Russell Woodford
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