By Nicholas Munday, Adelaide Urban Birding

This is the second instalment of the series, What Bird is That? in which we explore the many birds that call your Adelaide Park Lands home.

The subject of this issue is unmistakable and ubiquitous – the raucous, rambunctious Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus).

It is perhaps the most abundant and successful of all birds to be found within your Adelaide Park Lands, if not the entire Adelaide metropolitan area (and beyond, having again been crowned the ‘most counted’ Australian bird in five Australian cities during the 2023 ‘Aussie Bird Count’).

Lorikeets are members of the Psittaciformes, the order containing parrots and cockatoos. Within that clade they belong to the Psittaculidae family, which contains all Australian parrots, as well as many other parrots from across South-East Asia and Africa.

Rainbow Lorikeets display the key identifying characteristics of all parrots: a curved, mobile upper mandible, and zygodactyl feet (that is, their feet are arranged that two toes point forwards and two toes face backwards).

In addition to these features, Rainbow Lorikeets are also exceptionally colourful – even by parrot standards –their plumage being a varied tapestry of reds, yellows, greens, and blue-violets (unsurprisingly, the full spectrum of the rainbow).

All lorikeets also display characteristics adapted to their specialised diet of (predominantly) nectar, namely, a brush-shaped tongue designed to access the deeper parts of flowers and blossoms.

This bizarre tongue is even referenced in the Rainbow Lorikeet’s scientific name: the genus name Trichoglossus is a portmanteau of the Greek base words thrix meaning ‘hair’ and glōssa meaning ‘tongue’.

Having a tongue with a ‘brush’ is not unique in and of itself – many other nectar-feeding birds share this trait, and even some mammals too – but it is unusual among parrots, and its presence betrays a long evolutionary history between Australia’s lorikeets and flowering plants such as Eucalypts, Callistemons, and Grevilleas (among many more).

A voracious hunger for sugar and nectar has driven Australia’s lorikeets to a highly nomadic lifestyle, although our cities have changed much of this natural behaviour.

Historic town-planning predilections for profusely flowering, usually non-locally indigenous street trees such as Corymbias and Callistemons have greatly benefitted Adelaide’s lorikeets, and these cunning birds have advantaged these resources to such an extent to become permanent, hyper-abundant residents (and noisy ones at that!).

They are also not fussy; they will eat the fruits and nuts of European trees with just as much enthusiasm as they will the nectar of locally indigenous flowering plants.

These traits, together with a naturally aggressive nature, have led to Rainbow Lorikeets taking over not just the cities within their natural range (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide), but also becoming invasive in cities such as Perth and Hobart, where aviary escapees have formed wild populations.

It is clear these ‘technicolor bullies’ have profited enormously by living in Australia’s metropolitan centres, often to the expense of more delicate species, particularly in competition for nesting sites in old-growth tree hollows.

Equally as striking as their colouration, Rainbow Lorikeets produce a range of vocalisations, from cheerful, chattering and whistling calls to literally deafening screeches that may exceed 120 decibels! A congregation of birds around a flowering tree is unmistakable from a distance, echoing out as a flare of both colour and clamour.

However rowdy these birds may be, they do have a tender side. Like most parrots, they form strong familial bonds and are thought to mate for life. Monogamous pairs are often observed delicately preening and tending to each other in (admittedly rare) quiet moments.

Similar species in the Adelaide region include the smaller Musk Lorikeet (Glossopsitta concinna), that can be distinguished from the Rainbow Lorikeet by more subtle colouration and a red ‘headband’ around its eyes. The tiny and nomadic Purple-Crowned Lorikeet (Parvipsitta porphyrocephala) is another one to look out for as well.

Within your Adelaide Park Lands, Rainbow Lorikeets can be seen practically everywhere, including the city squares, but areas with an abundant variety of flowering and fruiting plants suit them best.

Look for them around Botanic Park and in the Adelaide Botanic Garden (Park 11) where they will often gather in large numbers at fountains during hot weather.

Other Parks with large numbers of rainbow lorikeets include Red Gum Park / Karrawirra (Park 12), Rymill Park / Murlawirrapurka (Park 14), and Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi (Park 16).

Nicholas Munday is an Environment and Planning Lawyer with degrees in Law and Science (Evolutionary Biology and Ecology) from the University of Adelaide. He has a strong interest in biodiversity conservation and runs the ‘Adelaide Urban Birding’ Instagram (@adelaideurbanbirding) account dedicated to his photography of native birds in the Adelaide Metropolitan area.

In his free time, Nicholas is well-known in the Adelaide choral music and theatre communities, and also enjoys bushwalking, writing, and (of course) photography.