Wet Lorikeet

In keeping with my doing "significant events in my day blips", this one came out on top today.

This is our pet Rainbow Lorikeet, Lory. I can hear his parrot talk monologue from the kitchen while I am typing this up. Everyone expects parrots to talk and Lory is no exception. Most of what he says is like someone muttering under their breath though so he is difficult to understand. Lory loves attention and it isn't unusual for him to fluff out his feathers and wolf whistle as we walk past his cage, which he shares with our Scaly Breasted Lorikeet, Shrek. Shrek is a bit more reserved and doesn't talk much. I will photograph them both dry one day. I find it interesting that none of my cameras can capture the range of colour in his feathers. Either the greens or the reds lose detail and blend into one colour.

Lorikeets are nectar eaters so they are pretty mych like hyper-active kids after a trip to the sweet shop. Their natural call is an ear piercing screech, so they aren't the most popular of avian pets. Add to that the fact that they can projectile poo in almost any direction (usually when you are passing) and you have a parrot that needs to be treated with care. Lory will occasionally bite too, as I found out recently.

Lory and Shrek do give us lots of laughs though. One thing Lory loves to do is bath himself. As you can see from the photo, he is very thorough and always ends up saturated. Australia is home to lots of differet species of parrot, some large and some small. As far as I can see, they all like to bath and it isnt unusual to see them hanging upside down from power lines, bathing themselves during rain showers.

Here are a few more birdie photos

sparrow
and a bird of prey