CHIRP
The Lorikeet

Chirp the Lorikeet is a brightly coloured parrot who feeds in flowering trees and shrubs. He likes to live in timbered areas and you will find various Lorikeets scattered around the coast of many parts of Australia.

Chirp likes to keep company with his friends and you will often see him in pairs or in flocks which fly quickly and noisily from tree to tree. They screech and chatter and always sound very cheerful and busy.

Sometimes Chirp and his friends eat so greedily that they don't notice you coming close to watch them. They eat pollen and nectar, berries seeds and insects.

Lorikeets make their nests in the hollows of trees. The female lays her eggs on the wood dust at the bottom of the hollow. The male stays in the nest a lot to keep the female company but does not seem to take part in incubationg the eggs. Both parents feed the young chicks. It takes about 8 weeks for the chicks feathers to grow.

In the early morning the lorikeets leave their roosting trees and travel swiftly to their feeding areas. Their wings beat so fast and noisely that you can easily hear them fly overhead. During the hot part of the day they shelter under the leaves and at dusk they fly back to their roosting trees for the night.