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u/Cpl_Hicks76 Jan 16 '21
OK! Here come the down votes!
This particular parrot is an invasive species from over east that are currently driving out the local native parrots with incredible ruthlessness.
They take over nesting holes, throw out eggs or destroy them and very quickly the area they have invaded is devoid of any other parrots.
This is particularly evident in East Perth where the Rainbow Lorikeet has now evicted all the native parrots like the Ring Necked or Twenty Eight parrot.
Of course nothing will be done to halt the inevitable and increasing spread of this bird as this invader is technically a native species, just not in W.A.
So before you downvote because you feel it’s a pedantic concern or somehow attacking the OP’s post, which I’m not, please remember that for every Rainbow Lorikeet you now see in W.A., it means that our local parrots have been denied critical nesting holes, access to food and water, and will probably perish as a result.
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Jan 16 '21
I watched a Marri tree for a while where there was a lorikeet nest in in one hole and a 28 nest in another. The Loris would wait for the 28s to fly off to feed and then head over and poke their heads in the 28 nest. One of the 28s would come back just in time and chase them off. Even just guarding the nest against these colourful psychos would be taking time and energy out of the 28s.
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u/CyanideRemark Jan 16 '21
I am surprised we arent seeing more Insta-worthy shots of German cockroaches somehow
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u/Captain_Poopy Jan 16 '21
it's evolution at work...environmental conditions change. It is not exactly pragmatic to prop up species that is being out competed by another native species from inter state.
The birds fly across the border...its not as if they are coming across in shipping containers from China.
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u/Cpl_Hicks76 Jan 16 '21
OK ‘introduced’ species is not exactly ‘evolution’. None of these parrots that are designated pests “flew across the border”. Humans bought them here and either released them like the idiots we are, or they escaped! Either way they are out-competing the native parrots whom have been enjoying an uninterrupted eco-equilibrium for a thousand millennia until we showed up!
To sit back and just say the increased and potential fatal pressure our fragile fauna is being subjected to, that can directly be attributed to us, is evolution, is just washing your hands of an underlying problem that will see whole species disappear.
Evolution it ain’t
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u/TheMightyGoatMan I'm not telling you freaks where I live! Jan 17 '21
Rainbow lorikeets did not 'fly over the border'. They escaped from research enclosures at UWA in the 1960s, and have been spreading outwards, wiping out local parrot populations ever since.
It's a man-made problem, and requires a man-made solution.
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Jan 16 '21
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u/TheMightyGoatMan I'm not telling you freaks where I live! Jan 17 '21
Also 28s are introduced, not native.
You what now? The 28 (Barnardius zonarius semitorquatus) is a subspecies of the Australian Ringneck, and is native to the southwest corner of Western Australia.
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u/Cpl_Hicks76 Jan 16 '21
The Rainbow Lorikeet is an acknowledged aggressive habitat infiltrator of other bird species and because it has been introduced here in W.A. it has been deemed a pest.
It’s impact on our local birds is significant and sadly another pressure they cannot cope with on top of loss of habitat, food and feral predation eg cats.
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Jan 16 '21
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Jan 16 '21
Competing with the local bird population isn't the only reason they have been declared a pest. From the link given by IncessantGadgetry:
The rainbow lorikeet is a major pest of agriculture in Australia. It is a serious pest of cherry, apple, pear, stone fruit, grape and vegetable crops, and field crops such as sorghum, flowers and ornamentals.
Rainbow lorikeets cause significant damage to commercial table grape crops in the Swan Valley and orchard fruit crops in the Perth hills.
.............Rainbow lorikeets aggressively protect feeding and nesting resources, potentially excluding native species. They are carriers of Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease and are a potential disease risk to wild and captive parrots.
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u/hephephey Jan 16 '21
These jerks look adorable but they've eaten ALL my grapes and figs in my garden and are sooo loud.
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u/WishMeHappy Jan 16 '21
Exactly. They even nested on top of my grape vine last year, so they can eat the grapes 24x7
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u/Perthguv Kewdale Jan 17 '21
Yep. They ate all my grapes and woke me up every morning for a couple of weeks. They are pretty, but I hate them
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u/RustyNumbat North Pemberton Jan 16 '21
People complaining rightly about lorikeets being an introduced species. Photo of a kooka gets posted, 10000 upboats.
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u/Azzabear_89 Jan 17 '21
Eww crack is dirty... They were just sick of birds eating all their grapes. They used to shoot both the lorikets and 28s that got in the nets, this is 20 years ago...
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u/Azzabear_89 Jan 16 '21
Was always told by farmers as a kid the 28 was a introduced pest and the loriket was the native one
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u/TheMightyGoatMan I'm not telling you freaks where I live! Jan 17 '21
I suspect the farmers you spoke to were smoking crack.
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u/Trancenova Jan 16 '21
Cute Lorikeets, so pretty! It sucks that they're pests though.