Re: The mad lorikeet

["John A. Gamblin" <>]

If you need to find a new home I have heard of this bloke in Hastings .......he likes those that bite the hand that feeds them.

On Fri, 4/11/08, Bill Stent <> wrote:

From: Bill Stent <>
Subject: The mad lorikeet
To: "Karen" <>, "Russell Woodford" <>, "Birding-Aus" <>

Cc: "Paul Dodd" <>, "Peter Shute" <>,

Date: Friday, April 11, 2008, 4:06 PM

This morning something kinda funny happened.  It was at about 7:30, and we were just getting up when we noticed a hot air balloon landing in the park in the next street.  As usual, this created quite a stir amongst the neighbourhood kids and so we went down to watch.  After we'd helped roll up the balloon (which weighs 950kg without the basket) we were all standing around talking.  Suddenly we were approached by a rainbow lorikeet, who fluttered around the group curiously.  They obviously know birdos, because it landed on my head.  Clearly an escapee.

It was very friendly, and spent time on all the kids' heads, and it endeared itself immediately.  It doen't fly very strongly though, and it would struggle up to flowering eucalypts before returning to us.

Not wanting to leave it to the park and its goshawks, we brought it home, where we fed it commercial seed and fresh sliced apples (which it totally devoured).  Clearly it was very hungry.  It then began to talk and even wolf whistle.  We can't make out what it's saying, though, just human-sounding murmurs.

However, with increasing strength, its true nature emerged.  This bird is totally INSANE and a bit aggressive.  It now owns our back yard and defends it against any human who approaches.  Emma has turned from a bird lover to a total aviphobe (if that's a word).  She's sporting three bandaids, Jan's bleeding quite nicely, and (sniff) even I have been bitten, but not very hard.  (Jan says: He was wearing gloves, the chicken).

We've given it its own feeder, out of kid reach (but not safe from goshawks), but now want to know what we should do with it.  I'm happy to let it be, and live there until it decides to go somewhere else.  Because it's a rainbow lorikeet, I'd be surprised that anyone will be pamphletting the area - although we'll keep a look out.

Any suggestions (please be nice)?

(PS, Anthea, I think I've already got your lorikeet recipe, which is shaping up to be the preferred option...)

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