Rainbow Lorikeets chatter crazily as they feed, which is especially fabulous as it meant I knew they were among the blossoms, though I didn’t know I’d find a surprise Scaly-breasted Lorikeet calling in harmony.
1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 1600, focal length 560mm
Canon 5DSR, Canon 200-400mm L IS USM EXT
I caught the lorikeet above in mid call. I often wonder what birds are saying to each other, ‘I’m still here, are you? Nectar’s good. Time to go.”
The calling lorikeet, above, is an adult bird as its bill is bright orange-red and its eye, or iris, is red whereas juvenile rainbows have brown bills and irises. Their heads are a beautiful blue, they have lime green collars and green upperparts. Their underparts are orange and yellow with blue tummy patches.
1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 1600, focal length 560mm
Canon 5DSR, Canon 200-400mm L IS USM EXT
Looking at these images I’m reminded of a post I shared called Colourful Camouflage. It’s quite remarkable that such brightly coloured birds can hide like blossoms in a tree.
They are incredibly acrobatic as they feed. The image above shows a rainbow curled downwards to reach into a eucalyptus blossom. I love the way the image shows its wing and yellow under-tail sweeping along the branch in different directions, adding to the disruptive camouflage effect. The colours of its underbelly are exquisite peeking between the leaves.
1/800, f/5.6, ISO 6400
Canon 5DSR, Canon 200-400mm L IS USM EXT
And then came the surprise! A Rainbow Lorikeet that had forgotten to put its bonnet on before leaving home. I almost deleted this image as the bird was hard to see before I cropped in more closely. I’m stoked to have finally photographed a Scaly-breasted Lorikeet albeit in a most unexpected spot. I was on Phillip Island where there are records of them being seen a few years ago but nothing that I could find more recently. I put the image on the Facebook page Australian Bird Identification (a brilliant group) to ask whether it was likely to be a wild bird or an escapee. The concensus seems to be that there are populations of Scaly-breasted Lorikeets living in the wild, around Melbourne, that have become established from escapees. They are likely to hang around, literally, with Rainbow Lorikeets and sometimes interbreed.
Scaly-breasted Lorikeets are smaller than their rainbow cousins, and more commonly found in a wide band along the eastern coast of Australia.
Before I publish today’s post I’d like to mention two wonderful young women (who I vouch for 100%) who are fundraising for the Coalition Against Duck Shooting by doing a 40km walk. All funds raised will go towards items for rescuers, such as hi-vis vests, walkie-talkies, carry cages for injured birds etc GoFundMe Page for Duck Rescue
Happy birding
Kim
~ Facebook page Kim Wormald – lirralirra
~ Facebook group Ethical Bird Photography
Lovely photos, such pretty birds!
Thank you Alyssa 🙂
Amazing feather detail as always, Kim. A rainbow once allowed me to touch the blue on his/her head and the texture was totally unexpected. Thanks so much for sharing. Yes it took me a minute to find the scaly breasted too! And yes they are all bullies and showoffs — they come in a bunch to our feeder and hardly anyone else gets a look in.
How amazing to have touched a rainbow’s head. Their head feathers do appear coarser in photographs so I’m guessing maybe they feel that way too. How interesting!
Actually it’s a bit like he/she had jelled the topmost feathers and run a coarse comb through. The underneath feathers were incredibly soft — I could feel the spring in them. Sounds like I gave the poor thing a head massage — it really was only a light touch then the beak came towards me and I backed off smartish!
I think most feathers especially colored ones appear “rougher” in images possibly for lots of reasons, if the photo is close up or cropped changes the appearance, butterfly images appear much the same,because of their scales.
Hi Cliff, in my experience I think that might depend more on the post processing than the cropping. As a nature photographer I like following the international rules on processing (FIAP, PSA) which means I’m very mindful about the way I process images. If a photograph is over-sharpened etc it can result in a strange look. Maybe a macro image of a butterfly would bring out details in an interesting way. Let me know if you have any examples of what you’re seeing as I’m curious about it, Kim
You made me laugh Kat, giving ‘the poor thing a head massage’! I can imagine just what you’re explaining. A friend of mine is a wildlife carer, she often has quite a few rainbows so I might get to do a touch-test at some point
We get a few rainbow lorikeets here now and I can vouch for just how vocal they are. They are also bullies and punch well above their weight in seeing off intruders on ‘their’ patch. I have watched them triumph over sulphur-crested cockatoos, corellas and currawongs more than once.
The scaly lorikeet is new to me. Thank you.
And all praise to the walkers. Sadly I cannot contribute at the moment but my good wishes will walk with them.
They are definitely assertive birds, and noisy too! It’s interesting that they share so well with the Scaly-breasted Lorikeets, I guess that being so closely related that they interbreed at times makes them very tolerant of each other.
Love the color on the Rainbows and the one calling at the top is just superb. The Scally-breasted took me a minute to spot it, it so well blends in with that even green back. Great shots and text. Thanks
Thank you Thomas. I love the colour of the rainbows too. Isn’t it amazing how brilliantly such colourful birds are so well camouflaged
Scales are regularly found hanging out with Rainbows whether it’s an escape or just a traveller is debatable
It’s been interesting to learn more about that Cliff. And how some get established in ‘new’ wild populations, sometimes interbreeding with rainbows. If only they could talk! 🙂