I have learnt not to ignore the sound of beak on wood.
Hearing the sound of something working away at a branch or bark had me scanning the canopy at Candlebark Reserve the other day. In my mind I'm always about to see
Crested shrike-tit!
On this occasion I eventually fou
nd the source of the noise which was a pair of Rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus) taking it in turns to work on a potential nesting site.
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| Rainbow lorikeet, Candlebark Reserve. "Lorikeet A" |
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| "Lorikeet A" continues to dig away at the hollow releasing small bits of chewed up wood below. |
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| "Lorikeet A" clambers out while "B" inspects the progress |
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| "Oh you've missed a bit" |
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| "Lorikeet B" adjusts things while "A" preens (always fascinated to see the Rainbow lorikeet black underwing) |
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| "Aahh, I hate getting sawdust in my eyes" |
In Victoria we are well supplied with tree hollows of this size and the Rainbow lorikeets seem to do well. It is the larger hollows of older growth forests that are sought by the larger cockatoos and owls which are causing trouble for these birds.
Bird on!
A great series of photos. Lorikeets are always fun to watch.
ReplyDeleteyou got some fabulous shots of them busy creating a new nesting spot. Will be interesting to observe if they stick with it and continue to co-habit there. In similar trees I've seen rainbows do this, then galahs will inspect, the kookaburras too. It's not always easy to have the true colours show in rainbow's photoraphs; sometimes they flare but you seem to have got them spot-on in yours; well done Pete!
ReplyDeleteThey're gorgeous! I love the colours.
ReplyDeleteAwesome series of shots!
ReplyDeleteHow to make everyone else ultra jealous!!
ReplyDeleteLovely lovely post
Oh wow!!! I've never seen Rainbow Lorikeets nesting! I agree with Dave, above!!
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see you joining with WBW... I must have missed this one last week!