After reading your article last week about musk lorikeets arriving last month to feed in Ballarat’s flowering eucalypts, I am sending photos of a musk lorikeet on a flowering bottlebrush.
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I.H., via email.
Musk lorikeets do indeed feed in other flowering native plants, not just eucalypts.
Bottlebrushes seem to be their second-most preferred source of nectar at this time of the year.
While rainbow lorikeets feed from flowering banksias, this may not be the case with musk lorikeets, because their summer time with us does not coincide with the autumn-winter flowering of banksias.
Silky oaks are now flowering, and their nectar probably also attracts musk lorikeets.
Musk lorikeets also eat fruit and seeds, and occasional insects.
- Questions and photos are welcome. Send to Roger Thomas at The Courier, PO Box 21, Ballarat, 3353, or email to rthomas@vic.australis.com.au
