Rainbows and Musks

Drouin’s streets, parks and gardens are often visited by flocks of the gregarious Rainbow Lorikeet. It isn’t hard to know when they have arrived – they screech loudly and squabble constantly among themselves and they spend a lot of time chasing off other species.

Rainbow Lorikeets are thought to pair for life

All of Australia’s Lorikeets are nectar and pollen feeders – they have a specially adapted ‘feathery’ tongue for lapping the blossoms of trees and shrubs such as eucalypts, paperbarks and banksias. They do also take some insects, fruit and seeds as part of their diet. Rainbow Lorikeets have been recorded eating meat.

Musk Lorikeets are said to emit a musky odour

Being especially partial to the blossoms of our native trees and shrubs, Lorikeets will often fly long distances chasing the flowering patterns of their favourite species. Lorikeets are described as a nomadic species.

When the Friends of Drouin’s Trees were conducting their bird surveys recently, a noisy flock of rainbows were feeding in some Spotted Gums at the Drouin Golf Course. Among them were some Musk Lorikeets, a slightly smaller and less colourful bird.

Rainbow (left) and Musks (right) at a water bowl

Rainbow Lorikeets are widely distributed across the north of Australia, down the eastern seaboard and across to about Adelaide. Musk Lorikeets are more restricted to the south-east corner of the continent.

Both Rainbow and Musk Lorikeets use tree hollows for nesting and so they are attracted to stands of large gums that contain suitable hollows, a resource that is steadily disappearing in some areas.