By Ben (Discover English Teacher)

If you walk around Melbourne’s parks, particularly late in the day, you’ve probably seen huge flocks of beautifully coloured rainbow lorikeets noisily squawking while they feed in trees.

Rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus) are one of Australia’s many beautiful species of parrots. They usually eat pollen and nectar from flowers. This sugary food gives them their excitable and high-spirited personality. Not many people know that lorikeets sometimes get drunk on the fermented fruit that they eat. When they are drunk, they have problems flying straight, they bump into things and get friendlier towards humans.

They can also be very aggressive. They like to make nests in hollow trees, but there is a shortage of these natural breeding sites in cities because dead trees have to be cut down for safety reasons. Other native animals also like to live in the hollow trees. People have recorded rainbow lorikeets pulling baby possums out of a hollow tree to steal their home! In the cities, you will often see artificial nesting boxes in trees to provide homes for birds and other wildlife.

Keep a look out for rainbow lorikeets in your neighbourhood when you’re out walking. They’re everywhere, typically Australian and very beautiful.