Hello everyone.. My name is Sue..
I was just wondering about the young rainbow lorikeets. I have about 4 or 5 little guys who hang around my balcony. I love them and sometimes give them sliced grapes but is this wrong? Should I give them nothing and if so how do they fare for food being so little and it being winter?
Any advice greatly appreciated
Thanks
Hello and welcome Sue! Your little rainbows sound very sweet
As to the feeding of them, I don't think that there is a problem with giving them the occasional grape. The most important thing is that they don't come to rely on you for their food. And also, they may be small, but they will know how to find food for themselves. Young lorikeets are taught by their parents as soon as they leave the nest how to find food for themselves. I found an interesting article on gum trees that flower through winter and thought this might help
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2005/05/05/3299439.htm
Thank you for caring about your little birds
Elsie
Hi Sue. I have a somewhat but not altogether different view of artificial feeding of birds from Elsie.
It starts with thinking about why you're feeding grapes to the Rainbow Lorikeets. Is this for the Lorikeets' benefit (e.g., because they would starve if you didn't feed them grapes) or is it for your benefit (e.g., because it's a real buzz being able to see them up close)?
If we're trying to ensure the survival of our Lorikeets (& other native birds) then surely there is no more effective way of doing this than enabling them to obtain natural food. After all, Lorikeets surely know what food is in their best interests since they've survived with it for, probably, thousands if not millions of years.
To enable Rainbow Lorikeets to obtain their natural food in your area then the most effective thing you can do is conserve &/or plant or encourage others to conserve &/or plant the original vegetation that exists/existed in your area. Generally, these plants consist of Eucalyptus blossoms which provide them with pollen & nectar but Lorikeets also feed on native fruits and seeds, hence the need to provide them with the full complement of native vegetation that exists/existed in your area for them to have a healthy, natural diet.
Fear not about them surviving in winter. They've done so for a long, long while & they travel long distances to find food.
To obtain more information about feeding birds try typing "artificial feeding" into the search box near the top of this page.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention that
Even if you can only have plants in pots, then you can still find small flowering native shrubs (like Grevilleas) These are major Lorri attractors and they actually grow really well in a pot.