Rainbow Lorikeet Native to some parts of Australia. A brightly coloured gregarious parrot that feeds primarily on pollen, nectar and fruits, but will feed on grains. Almost always seen in pairs or in flocks, which can contain up to a thousand birds. Like most parrots they nest in hollow limbs or trunks of dead or living trees. They are prolific, with pairs known to rear as many as three successive broods in a single season thus enabling the population to increase rapidly.
Rainbow lorikeets look very similar to the more common eastern rosella.
The main distinguishing feature is the lorikeets' blue head. Significant numbers of captive bred birds have been deliberately released on the North Shore. They have been supported with supplementary feeders in an effort to establish a wild population in Auckland. Rainbow lorikeets have been recorded in flocks of up to 50 in the local vicinity and are now breeding in the wild. Eastern Rosella Australian evidence, supported by reports from the people living on the North Shore, is that these birds are generally aggressive to, and often dominate all other birds trying to use the same food source.