New home for rent – Lorikeets & Rosellas

Mt Gravatt Bush Blokes - Marshal, Michael & Paul

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Mt Gravatt Bush Blokes installed the first of our new nest boxes high in a Tallowwood ready for a family of Rainbow Lorikeets or Pale-headed Rosellas to move in.

The nest boxes made by Mt Gravatt Men’s Shed also include designs for Squirrel/Sugar Gliders and the smaller Scaly-breasted Lorikeets – green with yellow ‘scales’ on their chest and bright orange flashes as their underwings are exposed in flight.

The initial order of ten boxes which will be used in restoration of the Fox Gully and Firefly Gully wildlife corridors which will provide urgently needed nesting sites and bring birds and Gliders literally into the community backyards.

The Men’s Shed boxes have been beautifully made with high quality materials – stainless steel hinges, galvanised nails, FSC certified exterior ply, Cutex wood preservative donated by , all following nest box designs from Nest boxes for wildlife by Alan & Stacey Franks – a copy was donated by Hollowlog Homes.

The design includes a lid that can be lifted for inspection, an internal ladder and a removable base for clearing ferral invaders like Indian Mynas.

The box was attached to the tree using 3mm fencing wire covering in hose with a zig-zag section on both side to allow for expansion as the tree grows.

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Scaly-breasted Lorikeet playing in birdbath

We love living with our bushland backyard.

Last night we had a Koala visiting: read Do Koalas visit you at home? Today we were being entertained by a Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus playing in the birdbath.

These beautiful birds tend to flock with the larger Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus. At first glance Scalys are not as colourful as Rainbows however as you will see in the video their true colours are hidden and only show when they fly.

 

Pale-headed Rosellas visit Fox Gully

We have four Pale-headed Rosellas Platycercus eximius visiting  our forest this winter. My wife calls these pretty gentle shy birds Blue-boys, a good name.

Our Blue-boys visit the bird bath along with a host of others however they are so timid I have not yet been able to get some video.

We do not feed birds. We just provide water in several bird baths. In our dry winter weather is very popular with a wide range of birds from meat eaters like Kookaburras and Butcher Birds to seed eaters like the Blue-boys, Rainbow Lorikeets and Scaly-breasted Lorikeets.

We are also working with BCC Habitat Brisbane to research and install nest-boxes to support our bird population.

 

Rainbows and Scaly-breasteds playing together in water

A bird bath is a wonderful way to get some free entertainment. Watch out for the water flying.

Yesterday we had about ten Rainbow Lorikeets Trichoglossus haematodus playing in the hanging birdbath behind our house. They were having a wonderful time splashing water everywhere and making a racket.

After a short while they were joined by two Scaly-breasted Lorikeets Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus which often flock with the Rainbows.

Even with the current rain Lorikeets and Noisy Miners are still visiting the birdbaths. When we have really dry periods a whole range of different birds visit this reliable supply of water: Kookaburras, Noisy Miners, Pied Butcherbirds, Magpies, Galahs, King Parrots and Pale Headed Rosellas.

We use our rain water tanks to keep the bird baths full. We have found the birds like the Rosellas and King Parrots like a tree where they can land to check that it is safe before they go down to the water. Putting old branches near the water has also been a success as you can see in the video.

Don’t forget to empty and refill your birdbath every few days to stop mosquitoes breeding.

What birds do you have visiting your backyard?

Mike