Continuing the hunt for lorikeet roosts!
Hi Everyone,
We hope everyone enjoyed listening to the LPS podcast!
You may recall a couple of months ago we made a call to our citizen scientists to let us know the location of any lorikeet roosts they were aware of. Thank you to those that sent through some locations!
We are still on the lookout for lorikeet roost sites, particularly in and around the Brisbane area. For those of you who have walked or driven past a roost site, you know they are hard to miss, as the birds make their presence known with their loud calls. For those who have not had the pleasure, a lorikeet roost site is where large numbers of lorikeets congregate at night. Best time to find one is around dusk when they make their way back to their roost, calling and squabbling amongst themselves.
We would love to hear from all of our members, so feel free to either leave a comment on this journal post, or send @lozb97 a message through iNaturalist. Speaking of members, this week we would like to welcome a new members: @rrachh We look forward to seeing your observations.
Stay safe and Happy Rainbow Lorikeet spotting!
Lauren, David, Maya, Holly
Comments
Hi there , I am a wildlife recuer in Victoria Point on the Redlands coast and there is a large roost in Victoria point . We also have a large number of lorikeet calls that turn out to be lorikeet paralysis . These are usually taken for euthanasia , so not even sure if you are getting data from this area with regards to this issue in our area, we do not work through RSPCA which I would assume the bulk of your data comes from.
Hi @hippoluver Thank you for responding to our post, and for letting us know what you are experiencing in your area. Do you have an address or closest road for the roost location? May I ask what symptoms the bird presented with to make you suspect LPS? It might very well be that we are not getting this data.
Hi, I am not from the area under observation. However, I have been observing the local rainbows where I live in VIC. I stumbled on this study looking for local research.
Given it isn't occurring in the southern parts of Australia, the problem plant thrives in warmer climates. There would be devastating losses if it were caused by a tree they feed from. What if they aren't eating this plant?
What if backyard gardens with a certain cottage garden plant that is planted nearby native trees they feed from are causing this paralysis? The Loris in large numbers can push each other off, they can fall into other plants and then they climb those plants to get back to the feeding tree. They can sometimes struggle to get a good grip on the plant they have landed on and use their beak to get a grip as well as their feet. Have you considered datura or a similar toxic plant? Piercing the stems, leaves or flowers could result in accidental ingestion. The paralysis may be a symptom of datura poisoning.
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