Jade Welch Birds: An interesting observation

rainbow lorikeet seed casuarina jadewelchbirds jade welch nectar

A Common site - A Rainbow lorikeet in search of nectar

The Eastern Australian Sub-species of Rainbow Lorikeet is traditionally known as a bird that eats pollen and nectar and rightfully so. Like other species of Lorikeet these birds have specialised papillae on the tongue to assist with the extraction of such foods. They get their supply of both nectar and pollen by visiting flowering trees and plants in parks, gardens, forests etc. As a common species they are often overlooked by people and once accustomed to these birds it is not hard to walk under a tree filled with Rainbow Lorikeets without noticing they are there.

Ready for take off - Time to find more seed

Whilst many may observe them feeding on a tray of seed left out for other species of wild bird this is not the norm. As such If one must place food out for the lorikeets to eat they should place out a specially formulated mix designed for lorikeets or even better plant nectar rich plants and trees. In hot climates or on hot days lorikeet foods are best left out for only a short time to prevent fermentation.

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Seed mixes such as this are not good for Rainbow lorikeets

It is said that these birds should not be fed seed and this is certainly true to a certain extent. The digestive system of these birds is simply not designed to deal with large quantities of seed. Particularly seed they have not adapted to eating such as millets, sunflower and many of the other seeds found in dry seed mixes which are readily available for captive birds. A diet high in seeds such as those fed to wild and captive birds will lead to shortened life and or dietary issues.

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One of the many Casuarina glauca that hosted a large flock of feeding Rainbows

I have on rare occasions observed the odd Rainbow Lorikeet eating seed from a small number of native plants. Just the other day (20/10/2014) though I observed a large flock of the birds eating the incredibly small seeds of Casuarina glauca. This observation caused a lot of interest and as such I went back the next day to get photos. Unfortunately the photos are not particularly good but assist in showing the birds eating the seed.

Seed pod of Casuarina glauca

As can be seen by the photos attached to this blog post these Lorikeets will eat seed however it is not clear to me how many other species of trees they take seed from. Nor is it clear as too how much seed they consume as part of their regular diet. They are known to take the larvae of insects but this too does not seem to form a large part of their diet. So hopefully this post has been of some interest to you all.