Wednesday 26 February 2014

Wild Bird Wednesday 85 - Rainbow Lorikeet

Due to me being rather busy this week, I thought I'd go with a bit of a crowd pleaser for WBW!

A few weeks ago, as I walked to the train, I noticed a group of Rainbow Lorikeets in the trees near the station.  The next day I took my camera - confident that the birds would not be there.  But they were, so I stopped to take some pictures - and (surprise, surprise) I missed my train!  Oh well!

The Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus heamatodus) is about 25 - 32cm long and is insanely brightly coloured!  The genus name makes reference to the birds hairy tongue that is used to lap nectar from flowers.

(Interestingly, that classic Australia the Echidna has a genus name with the same origin - Tachyglossus - which means fast tongue)





Lot that long ago, these birds were not common in suburban Melbourne.  But now, possibly due to the presence of now mature street trees, they are rather common.  Common, but rather splendid!

Now it's over to you.  A special plea now that the link widget has changed - could you limit the text that comes with the thumbnail to a name and a location (i.e. Stewart M, Australia or Fred Flintstone, AZ).  At present the widget automatically puts in 40 characters of the URL as the label and it can look a bit of a mess!

Click on the link and off you go.


55 comments:

  1. crowd-pleaser, indeed! such wonderfully colored birds!

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  2. They're so colorful!! Wish I could see a bird like THIS around our station. Wow.

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  3. Insanely brightly colored is right. Stunning photos Stewart.

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  4. Well it's good to know that you have your priorities in order ... there will always be another train, there may not be another opportunity like this. But, then again you did say they were becoming common and I am guessing those who awaited your arrival at the other end of the train ride might have a different perspective on your missing the train. That said ... great pictures of these charming birds. Thanks Stewart and I hope you get great bird pictures while you are in Arizona ... lots of awesome birds out there. Hope you will tell me if you ever make it to Chicago :)

    Andrea @ From The Sol

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  5. Common birds, uncommonly gorgeous. One of my fave Aussie birds. Terrific shots Stewart!

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  6. They look like they have been painted. I bet they were fun to watch. From Findlay

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  7. Stunning alright. You are lucky to live where it is normal to see them.

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  8. What terrific birds , and well named.
    All the best on your travels, Gordon.

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  9. Such a lovely colourful bird and one we don't see in the wild in my part of the world.

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  10. Seeing these in person would be such a thrill. Such colorful creatures. I have to say they posed in a wonderful spot for you. The bark of the tree and the background colors and bokeh couldn't have been more perfect for these shots!
    Beautiful photos Stewart!

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  11. How wonderful to be able to see these birds in the wild - they are indeed splendid.

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  12. Your post pleased me, for sure! These are stunningly beautiful birds. Do they have a loud raucous call? I once burnt the rice for dinner as I'd popped out to photograph a bird up the lane. When my husband complained that I could have burnt the house down, a fellow birder said who want's rice when you can get a good bird pic! (Hope you managed the next train, LOL!) I will link to your blog tomorrow. Greetings, Jo

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  13. I think several of these parrots are invasive. It's funny but I don't think most people mind:) They are probably similar to the invasive Rosy-faced Lovebirds in Phoenix. They became wild and began to breed. Now they are all over the city.

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  14. Oh, so pretty.

    I would have missed my train too.

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  15. All the colours on one bird ,lovley ,Nette

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  16. They're pretty birds. I love the colours.

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  17. Sorry I just now saw the plea about the text -- I just let Mr Linky do his thing automatically -- will fix it next time!

    Can only imagine living where a bird that looks like this is "common." They are absolutely incredible.

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  18. Wat is dit geweldig mooi,wat een kleuren en zo fel.

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  19. Those pics are worth missing a train for. Another train (or bus) will be along soon but the birds might not be.

    Sorry Stewart I missed your request but I won't next week.

    Thanks for hosting.

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  20. Those pics are worth missing a train for. Another train (or bus) will be along soon but the birds might not be.

    Sorry Stewart I missed your request but I won't next week.

    Thanks for hosting.

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  21. that's exactly the words Stewart, insanely coloured! The colours aren't always easy in your camera, they can easily 'flare'; amazing birds really. You got fabulous shots of them, shame you missed your train but they're darn hard to walk away from them when you've got them in close range

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  22. That bird is so beautiful! I wouldn't know what to do if I saw something like that in the wild.
    Very nice photos Stewart!

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  23. Brilliant pictures Stewart. Well worth missing your train for I'd say.

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  24. A lovely bird to see Stewart... cracking images

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  25. The Rainbow Lorikeet is one of my favorite Australian birds. They are so pretty, I love their gorgeous colors. Great shots! Thanks for hosting, Stewart! Enjoy the rest of your week!

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  26. Great photos of the Lorikeets - they are beautiful birds- they fly over my house screaming every morning - but when they settle down in the trees later in the day their voices are as gentle as a couple of budgies cooing to each other!

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  27. These guys are so pretty! We have seen some wild ones while riding in the country and they make a remarkable blur of color across the road as they swoop. Just lovely.

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  28. What gorgeous birds! The colors are brilliant!

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  29. I cannot imagine seeing these exotic birds flying free as they should!! Thanks for sharing your photos. :)

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  30. An absolutely splendid bird!
    You don't see color like that around here!

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  31. Hi Stewart Yes always a crowd pleaser. Great shots of this colourful noisy bird

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  32. Hi Stewart Just have to post again to say that the way you are displaying your comments is very creative.

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  33. What a beautiful little birdie.
    Crowd pleaser---I like that. MB

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  34. Beautiful pictures Stewart.
    Great to see this rainbow lorikeets.
    Here you can only see in the zoo.
    Greetings Irma

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  35. Definitely a crowd pleaser! Beautiful birds!!

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  36. Oh my, much larger than ours at the Safari Park. Love these colorful birds, so friendly to the children.

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  37. Great shots and very beautiful also. I hope you find your roadrunner when you see Fred Flintstone in AZ.

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  38. Splendid images of that fabulous bird!

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  39. Oh wow. He is beautiful!! Great captures, Stewart.

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  40. Beautiful, colorful bird! A standout in any crowd.

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  41. Solche Vögel gibt es bei uns leider nur im Zoo zu betrachten.
    Herrliche Farben und tolle aufnahmen.
    Ich bin heute das erste Mal dabei und hoffe, dass ich immer mal wieder mitmachen kann.
    Liebe Grüße aus Deutschland
    Jutta

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  42. How awesome for such a beautiful bird to be so common there!! I did see these at the zoo once - so beautiful.

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  43. Stewart, those are definitely crowd-pleaser photos, stunning.

    A request, I am not able to get the add link page to load today for some reason, and have retried 3 times. So, here is my submission fir this week. Maybe you will have better luck than I?

    http://babsjeheron.wordpress.com/2014/02/26/workin-it-on-wordless-wednesday/

    Thanks!

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  44. Oh my gosh this is such a colorful bird. I love it. Makes me feel happy just looking at your wonderful photos.

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  45. Beautiful! What a good reason to miss the train.

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  46. It is interesting how birds extend their ranges because of human activity. There are several species that I never saw in my childhood home that are now quite common there.

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  47. They are aptly named after a rainbow, though more brightly colored than any rainbow I've ever seen. I hope you didn't have to wait too long for another train going your way. The sacrifices bloggers make to have a timely post. We appreciate it.

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  48. I am here, I am here...gee and I finally can get to my g-mail account too, first time since mid December. I am thinking my desktop has a Google glitch. The Rainbow Lorikeets are just stunning. I love those colours and the tree that you have done your photographs there...it looks like our/my favorite Sycamore trees...Is that a Sycamore? Have a great remainder to your week~

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  49. It's reassuring to know there are many of us around the world who have our priorities straight.

    Trains run on schedules - birds do not! We must respond accordingly!

    Wonderful photographs, Stewart!

    Hope your weekend is full of feathers and colors!

    Cheers from Florida - Wally

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  50. Gorgeous colors and awesome shots.

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  51. Such pretty birds. It would be fun to see such birds in the wild.

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  52. Oioi, kuinka kaunis värikäs lintu.

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