aussiebirder

This week we will focus on two of our most colourful multi-coloured birds found here in the Summer months, both very different in most aspects except their beautiful coloured plumage. While the Rainbow Lorikeet lives, breeds and roosts in the Sydney Region and along the east coast of NSW, the Rainbow Bee-eater is a Summer Migrant, spending only the warmer summer months breeding in the dryer western areas of the coast. The Bee-eaters return to Far North Queensland and New Guinea during our Autumn. The Rainbow Lorikeet nests preferably in tree holes of the Angophora costata (Sydney Redgum) trees which are in plentiful here, where it competes with the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.

Lorikeets are also nectar feeders using their large wide tongue to flick the nectar from the native flowers of, Banksia, Grevillea, Bottlebrush and many species of Eucalypt, into their mouths. They also fed on native seeds and fruits. They are very noisy and raucous as they happily call and chatter to one another while they feed. These birds as well as the Bee-eater, pair for life and remain faithful to the one partner. You very rarely see a lone Lorikeet or Bee-eater. Here a Rainbow Lorikeet feeds on our Endeavour Bottlebrush flowers in our courtyard, They have been very noisy lately, that’s how we know there are flowers present, sometimes on the top of the tree. Click on images to enlarge them.

Pairs of Lorikeet are very devoted to the care and defense of each other and are often seen preening each other in difficult to get at places with expressions of ecstasy often seen on the face of the receiver. As a team they are known by other birds as a furious and painful bird to make conflict with, therefore most birds leave them alone.

Both the Rainbow Lorikeet and the Rainbow Bee-eater are featured in my book “What Birds Teach Us” which is available here online and in NSW National Parks and Council Visitor Centres as well as the Broome Bird Observatory and O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat. Click on the image below to find out more.

The Rainbow Bee-eater feeds on bees, wasps and other flying insects which it catches on the fly, and returns to the branch from which it launched to consume it. They have an immunity to bee and wasp sting, whereas the Magpie has to manually remove the stinger before consumption. My wife and I were greatly blessed some years ago to trace the courting and mating ritual of the Bee-eater. Some of you will have seen this before. This is an improved version of the same video. Many bird species have a courting process that is preceded by the male offering a food gift to a resting female. Her reception of the gift or gifts, usually and respectfully will lead to a mate for life, and a new family soon to be formed. Nest or tunnel building usually begins soon after.

Similar to the Spotted and Striated Pardalote featured in last weeks post, Bee-eaters form their nests in tunnels they create in sand embankments, riverbanks and piles of soil. The tunnels can be from 50 to 100 cm long. These birds will often return to the same place each year to live out our summer, often quite dry hot areas, as these birds are quite adaptive in any environment as we saw in our visit to Broome, WA some years ago.

The sex can easily be discerned by the length of the streamer, which is the projection from their tail. The female has the very short thick streamers (one or two) and the male has the longer thinner streamers. Similar to the Red-tailed Tropicbird which also has tail streamers and performs aerial acrobatics during courting, these birds use the streamer to assist them in fast maneuvers when catching flying insects.

Enjoy your weekend and stay safe. My wife and I are in recovery from the terrible RSV virus that has infected many older people.

Both of these species of birds, share a faithfulness in their lifelong relationship with their partner, and a desire to selflessly care for the needs of the other as they live life together, preen and bring pleasure to each other. They will ruthlessly protect their partner from attacks mediated by other birds, together they will defend their common cause – their family. It is a good lesson to all young couples including older ones, as the increase in personal satisfaction and selfishness threatens a loving shared relationship when a person chooses to inconsiderably put their wants and desires above those of their partner.

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Adv. Dip. in Counselling and Family Therapy.

Member of Birdlife Australia

To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

And learn from them how to live a healthy and happy life.

NOTE: All photos, videos and music used on this website are photographed, composed, performed  by the site owner and remains his copyrighted property, unless otherwise stated. The use of any material that is not original material of the site owner is duly acknowledged as such. © W. A. Hewson 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026