Winter here in Atlanta officially ends today at 5:58 p.m. This is cause for celebration. To bid farewell to the drab, gray winter and warmly welcome the colorful spring, I give you the rainbow lorikeet.
If you’re visiting eastern or northern Australia, you do not have to search for rainbow lorikeets. I saw my first one in Sydney at a cafe near the Opera House. It was sitting on a table, hoping to pick up a scrap of food; the way you’d see a pigeon or sparrow hanging around an outdoor eatery in any big-city downtown area.
As to the bird in this photography, I saw him in downtown Adelaide. We had arrived in the late afternoon, and gone for a walk. A few blocks from our hotel, we were on a side street just off one of the main roads. The city had planted trees along the sidewalk on a few of the blocks. And in one of those trees were a half-dozen or so of these lorikeets, feeding on those fruits you see. I went back the next afternoon with my camera, and they were there again for the late afternoon meal.
They’re garrulous and noisy parrots, with a high-pitched call. Rainbow lorikeets are about 10 to 12 inches long and the sexes are identical.
May your spring be as beautiful and colorful as this!