Lots of these colourful parrots hang out in the trees of our neighbour's garden picking berries and making a lot of noise.
The rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus) was
introduced into the wild in Perth, Western Australia,
during the 1960s. When lorikeets were first recorded
in the wild in Perth no action was taken to remove
them. From fewer than 10 escaped or released birds,
the population is now distributed over a large part of
the metropolitan area and may expand to numbers over
20 000 birds by 2010. The bird is now a declared pest here.
The rainbow lorikeet is a small, brightly coloured parrot
26 - 31 cm in length and weighing 120 - 130 g.
Male, female and immature birds all look similar, with
young birds slightly duller in colour. Lorikeets are quite
noisy, continuously screeching while in flight, at a food
source or at roosts. They have a swift direct flight with
rapid whirring wing beats and display flashes of dark
green and bright red.
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