My previous waning faith in humanity is definitely looking up here during our stop in Salt Lake City. Met some really nice people while up in the mountains birding (high Zane!) and the kind and gracious workers at the Mormon Temple were a breath of fresh air from the long days on the road. We have hiked a lot of mountains on this trip and I have to admit, mountain air (and trails) is/are fast becoming my lifeblood. Shout out to all the mountain athletes we’ve met on this trip – monster fitness, badly needed inspiration to keep pushing myself on the recovery to the ultra trail circuit. Been getting some really good bird checks lately, now sitting at 383+3 with the 10 new birds found the last couple of days here in Salt Lake City (at #318 in the top US birders list yay!) . Have I mentioned before how exhausting this trip is heheheh. We are moving base again tomorrow and need to try and get some sleep tonight. Brad is going to take the rudder and sail you across the wide pond to “Where women glow and men plunder” and the birds are a plenty. A fitting topic being we had a great time enjoying the birds of the world at Tracy Aviary today (link here). See ya’ again soon…
Take it away Brad…
Jan and I had spent the morning and most of an afternoon at the Taronga Zoo across the harbour from Sydney. Taronga is a very nice zoo, and there were animals we are unlikely to see anywhere else in the world. How often can you find a Sulfur-crested Cockatiel sitting on a tree branch out in the open handing out its opinion? Or a Southern Cassowary. Even behind electrified cables, these large birds are intimidating. In this case, the electrified cables are more to keep the angry bird inside than to keep less-than-cerebral visitors outside. I say it was angry because we observed a behaviour reserved for territorial disputes or threats. When a Cassowary is “upset” it makes one of the lowest sounds in the bird world, just on the lower edge of audible for most humans. It’s more of a feeling than a sound. It also looks like its whole body is vibrating, sort of like a subwoofer does in a home theatre setup. While not quite ostrich-sized, I think one would be happy to take out an unsuspecting tourist with a camera and not lose a bit of sleep over it.
Leaving Taronga, Jan and I took the 20-minute harbour ferry ride back to Sydney. The ferry dropped us on the next pier over from the Sydney Opera House; one of our life goals to see in person. After another dozen or so photos of the Opera House (who am I kidding, it was probably a hundred more, in addition to the hundreds Jan and I took the prior day), we decided to try to find P. Sherman at 42 Wallaby Way to return his scuba mask. Fans of Finding Nemo will understand the reference. It was, after all, our last full day in Australia and Jan and I wanted to make the most of it. We took a circuitous route back to the hotel, through the Royal Botanical Gardens.
Still on a high from encountering a Laughing Kookaburra in a gum tree (see here) near the Royal Botanical Gardens entrance, Jan and I wandered further through the gardens. Nearing the garden exit, there seemed to be a kerfuffle in a flowering tree next to the path.
This new bird is snacking on nectar from a flower on a Ceibo Tree (Erythrina crista-gall) or Cockspur Coral Tree, native to South America but thriving as part of the Royal Botanical Gardens.
Learn more about this colorful feathered friend after the jump!
This bird was upside-down much of the time we were photographing it. To find a bird so colorful immediately after seeing the starkly colored Australian Magpie just a few minutes before (link here) seemed a bit ironic. Always a surprise down under.
This is a Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus ) and a +1 for us. If you turn your monitors, or phones, upside down, they are easier to see in a couple of the photos.
At this point, you may be wondering what a lorikeet is. I thought they were all just parakeets. I know I certainly thought so and have probably used those names interchangeably all along. Both lorikeets and parakeets are members of the parrot family, distinguished from parrots by their small to medium sized bodies (parrots being much larger). Dividing even further, lorikeets can technically be parakeets based on the description of their body size and their tail feathers, but differ in their diet and personality. Parakeets are primarily seed eaters where lorikeets feed primarily on nectar and pollen. Lorikeets have a more clownish behavior and are very entertaining pets, but are quite a bit messier because of their specialized nectar diets.
Having said all of that, visually they are nearly identical in size and general behaviour. Only if the birds are feeding can casual observers tell them apart in the wild. If it eats seeds, it’s a parakeet. If it’s working on nectar or pollen, it’s a lorikeet. There may be a quiz later.
We saw lorikeets and parakeets and parrots, Oh My!, all over the Taronga Zoo, both in and out of captivity. This one was free flying in the Royal Botanical Gardens next to Sydney Harbour. Wildlife Intrigued lets employees only count and report on birds that are free-flight. That means that birds in huge aviaries don’t count. While those able to fly about freely, they are not free to leave the aviary. Birds in botanical gardens, and ironically in zoos, that are not captive and free to leave the premises of their own accord can count. Confused? I was, and sometimes still am.
Jan and I found these lorikeets roughly smack-dab in the middle of their year-round range. Rainbows can be found from the north of Australia up around Cairns (pronounced “cans”) clockwise along the coast all the way around to Melbourne. They favor lowland wooded country including rainforests and gardens. They feed mainly on nectar or pollen. Conservation wise, they are of Least Concern. Did I mention, that we had seen them all over?
The Rainbow part of the name is fairly obvious, because I think these birds have every color of the rainbow somewhere on them. On the extreme northwestern end of the Rainbow Lorikeet range, anti-clockwise around Australia starting at Cairns, there is a similar looking lorikeet called the Red-collared Lorikeet. Other than memorizing their precise color combinations and patterns, there’s a simple way to tell them apart. The Rainbow has a bright yellow/green patch on the back of its head/neck area, where the Red-Collared has, can you guess, a red patch. I can’t make this stuff up.
Rainbow Lorikeets like to nest in deep crevices in the trunks, or large branches, of trees. A mated pair will raise two chicks with the entire process from egg to fledgling taking between 54 to 57 days. An industrious pair may raise up to three broods per year. A mating pair of lorikeets often stay together for life, and often in a colony of other lorikeets, probably one of the contributing factors to their population success.
A group of Rainbow Lorikeets can be called a “pandemonium”. We only saw two together this time, not even enough for a quorum of a pandemonium.
I see we have worn out our welcome. The lorikeet gave us that look, and dove deeper within the tree. Just as well, it’s time we found a wood-fired pizza place for dinner.
Thank you for reading. If you want to see more Rainbow Lorikeet photos, please visit here.
Credits
Thanks again to Jan for proofreading and editing. Thanks to Jan for many of the photos in this story.
Wildlife Intrigued 