Rainbow Lorikeets

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

Rainbow Lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus) are the most common birds around my yard.  On most mornings I see and hear small flocks of 10 or more birds flying over and some of them stop off in my grevillea trees for a while.  However, for the last two or three weeks there have been huge flocks flying over.  Some flocks were too fast and too big for me even to estimate numbers but the smaller flocks were not less than 50 birds.  Only a very few birds stopped right in my yard but the big pine tree next door was a good place for big flocks to stop for a short rest.  This little video was taken around sunrise the other morning.  Just listen to that noise!

This is a Rainbow Lorikeet in my grevillea tree.

This tree was in a friend's yard and the birds were enjoying the berries as a change from nectar.

There has been a heavier than normal flowering of the Paperbark Trees (Melaleuca quinquenervia) over the last few weeks and I think this must have brought more Rainbow Lorikeets than normal around my yard.  Paperbark trees grow up to 25M in height and are common both around the edges of the bay and also through the Wallum heathland.  The trees have a bark which peels like sheets of soft paper.  The flowers are creamy white.  Unfortunately, I realized when I started writing this post that I didn't have good photos of just Paperbark Trees.  This photo from my archives shows a Figbird - rather than a Lorikeet - in a Paperbark tree taken some time ago.