The common brushtail possum is the most widely distributed large possum species in Australia and like most possums, they are nocturnal. They usually make a home in the hollow limbs of trees in areas of woodlands and open forests, like in this image — but can be sometimes found making a home in your roof!
Thanks for sharing your pic with us Chris! To feature as our reader photo of the week head to our website and upload your reader photo! Drunken birds? When the wet season approaches in Darwin and the mercury starts to climb, lorikeets get on the drink.
Red-collared lorikeets, native to the northern parts of Australia, exhibit tell-tale signs of drunkenness , such as difficulty flying, running into things and becoming friendlier towards humans. Basically, they lose their inhibitions. The effects usually last for a couple of days, far longer than you would expect if it was just alcohol-related. In the past the phenomenon has been treated as a joke, but now, wildlife carers are becoming increasingly concerned for the birds during this time.
The diet of a lorikeet typically mirrors its fruity colours: think bright flowers such as grevilleas, banksias and eucalyptus. The odd behaviour first came to attention when the ABC published images of two lorikeets feeding on meat.
Experts initially dismissed the birds as strange outliers. Following the report however, bird expert Darryl Jones received over emails about lorikeets and other parrots feasting on meat. These include everything from a lack of food for an overly abundant bird to bird feeders putting more meat on the menu.
Recently, some have suggested that the competitive and defensive eating behaviours of lorikeets such as those causing major issues for native birds in Western Australia are the reason behind the meat-eating. And here are the photos to prove it! Further research will hopefully unlock the mystery behind the behaviour. We have the red-collared lorikeet, which, as it names suggests, is defined by the red ring of feathers around its neck.
To minimise the possibility of contacting a fungal infection, keeping them in a clean environment, by regularly cleaning their cage, providing fresh food that is rich in vitamin A, such as carrots and sweet potato and make sure the water is fresh and clean.
If your bird is not as active as normal and appears fluffed, immediately up keep it warm with a heat lamp or a heater close to the cage. Broad-spectrum antibiotic powder is available at Birdsville, which goes into the water or contact a vet immediately. Many young birds that have beak and feather disease die at a very early age before they leave the nest.
Others show many symptoms from a very young age. These symptoms are often losing feathers but many lorikeets after a while build up an immune response and in time will grow there feathers back as if they never had the virus at all and live a long healthy life. These birds are generally immune from the disease, but probably become carriers for the remainder of there lifetime. Some birds which have a weak immune system that contract the disease can become ill and eventually die.
There is no vaccine to beak and feather disease but you can increase the odds for your living a long and happy life by giving your bird a healthy diet, clean environment and eliminating stress.
Skip to content. Do not feed your bird or any other bird avocado, onion, chocolate, caffeine or alcohol. Worming — Have you wormed your bird? Note anything found outside should be disinfected and non poisonouse and toys must be non toxic. Curious Rainbow Lorikeet had to investigate the strange looking bird in his neighbour Training Your Bird Training is an important factor of having a well behaved hand raised bird.
When doing any training there are three basic concepts to keep in mind. It is important not to overdo the training, keep it short, but frequent. Eyes — should be bright and clear, there should be no discharge, swelling or redness. If the eyes that are runny, squinty, or discolored can be an indication of infection.
Condition- This is very important and should be understood by any bird owner as a bird handler every time i touch any bird i feel the birds condition by touching the birds keel bone which is underneath the bird this is the anchor where the birds large wing muscles attach to allow the bird to have strong wing muscles for flight. When a bird is un well the first thing that usually happens is they lose weight and there breast muscle becomes very light on.
Because of birds very high metabolic rate they can lose weight very quickly and become ill so this should be checked by bird owners on a regular basis especially if they see there bird not as active as normal. Mouth and beak — should be clean and free of injury, no lesion, wetness or build up insid the mouth. The beak should not be over grown. Feathers — the bird should be fully feathered and sleek with a smooth appearance.
Depending on the age, often the body and tail feathers will be somewhat ragged due to young birds regularly walking through there wet food and having them rub on objects and wire. Wing Clipping — if wings are clipped, both wings should be clipped, not just one and all outer feathers should be cut. If the last two outer feathers are not cut the bird could injur themself and if only one wing is only clipped the bird still may fly, just lopsided and cause injury when landing.
Birdsville will clip wing for free with any purchase. Hand feed might look and seem like a simple process, but it can be easily done incorrectly adn time comsuming.
Rainbow Lorikeets will last years if kept in the right conditions! Check out these tips on increasing your pet bird's longevity. Closely related to the Rainbow Lorikeet, but a different bird altogether, the Scaly-breasted Lorikeet is another one of the popular types of lorikeets. They require mostly the same diet, hygiene , and care, so the tips above for caring for a Rainbow Lorikeet apply to this bird, as well.
Scaly-breasted Lorikeets can show aggressive lorikeet behavior, so please keep them in single-pair aviaries. If you have too many lorikeets in the same cage, they might attack one another, which is never good! Lorikeet birds, in general, have a very high moisture diet. As such, their feces tend to be very liquidy. Please ensure that the cage prevents them from being able to touch their droppings.
Enclosures with this property reduce exposure to bacteria and dangerous parasites. As the name implies, this breed is, well, smaller than the other ones. Most pet owners choose either a Rainbow Lorikeet or a Scaly-breasted one because of their intelligence and hardiness. However, some people try smaller lorikeets. Little Lorikeets should not be in cages. They need plenty of flying room to maintain their health, both mentally and physically.
Unlike the Scaly-breasted variety, they are calm birds. You can place them in the same space as doves, finches, and other small parrots. As smaller birds, these lorikeets tend to have a shorter lifespan than the Rainbow variety.
Expect these birds to last years instead. This breed is not popular as a pet since it is challenging to keep, but you should know about them if you're looking for a lorikeet bird. The demand is low for these so, even though these birds tend to be scarce, they go for less money. Much like the Little Lorikeet, this bird is on the smaller size. However, unlike the Little one, this bird can do well in a sufficiently big cage. Furthermore, they can share the cage with other small parrots, finches, and doves.
Unfortunately, these birds do not talk, so those hoping to have a conversation with their pet would find more luck with a Rainbow Lorikeet or a Scaly-breasted one. The absence of vocalization is undoubtedly a different lorikeet behavior than many of the other varieties. These birds also don't last quite as long as the other species. Typically, their lifespan is only years. Much like the purple-crowned lorikeet, this breed is not popular commercially.
These birds are harder to keep than the Rainbow Lorikeet. They are small birds that can be in cages if necessary. Musk Lorikeets can also be aggressive and need isolation, especially during the breeding season. Musk Lorikeets do not talk as well, but they can mimic sounds, which provides some entertainment!
These lorikeets can show some aggression to humans, but that's easily correctible.
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