6 Responses to “rainbow lorikeets eating sunflower seeds”
ian walters
I give wild lorrikeet visitors granular white sugar, shelled sunflower seeds and weak honey solutions in water.
Are thse foos harmful?
james
Hi Ian, it’s probably not a good idea to feed them sugar or honey — I’ve heard that can be bad for their immune systems. Sunflower seeds (with shell still on) are ok as are pieces of apple, grapes or pear.
Catherine
We have been feeding our lorikeets black sunflower seeds and each morning they cray until i give them their ‘treat’. I felt ridiculous as i shared this with a gal that works at Petbarn. She proceeded to tell me that black sunflower seeds are like ‘chocolates’ to the birds, cause their feathers to fall out, and can cause tummy problems. To my astonishment, she continued to share that if one feeds birds daily, that they will come close to starving if one happens to move to another home one day. Sure enough, we are moving in two months. Needless to say after hearing this information, I feel terribly guilty – is this info true? If so, how can i change feeding habits/if at all
james
I don’t know if that’s true or not. I suspect that if they were in captivity and sunflower seeds were all they eat they wouldn’t be very healthy birds at all.
But these are wild birds and there’s a lot of native vegetation around here.
We don’t feed them everyday either. We get regular visits from upwards of 30 different lorikeets a couple at a time, several times a day. Occasionally I’ll hand feed them some seed – I doubt this is making much of an impact on their health or their natural feeding habits.
You can get bird bells that have several different types of seed in them including sunflower. The lorikeets don’t like the other seed but have to work to get what they want. We put one of them out from time to time, you could try that.
Many people have taken to encouraging lorikeets into their gardens by giving them a variety of alluring foods. These foods are usually based on sugar, honey or jam, which will ensure regular visits to the garden by these wonderfully happy, colourful birds. However, it is this very act of ‘kindness’ that can cause the death of lorikeets at an unnaturally early age.
NPWS officers became concerned at outbreaks of lorikeets dying in large numbers for no apparent reason. They decided to investigate. Autopsies were carried out by NSW Agriculture on a number of these birds. Together with other investigations, these autopsies established that the lorikeets were dying from a disease called necrotizing enteritis. A bacteria called clostridia was isolated as the organism responsible.
Necrotizing enteritis is associated with poor hygiene and an inadequate diet, and it was found that the disease is not normally associated with lorikeets living a natural way of life. The scientists were able to directly relate the lorikeets’ deaths to inadequate artificial diets, and to the unsanitary conditions of trays and other containers from which they were being fed.
Another disease is also having a serious impact on lorikeets. Called psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD) or psittacine circovirus disease, it is considered the most important viral disease affecting cockatoos, parrots, lories, lorikeets and macaws around the world. Affecting the immune system of the birds, it often results in an AIDS-like condition. The keretin in the birds’ bodies breaks down, causing deformed beaks and feathers, and feather loss. The disease is usually fatal, but infected birds may not display symptoms for many months or even years.
Infected birds can drop faeces, which contain the potentially infectious circovirus particles, into the environment to infect other birds. Unfortunately, there is a great potential for the virus to spread at places like feed stations. Clustering in large numbers, many birds may come into contact with contaminated perches and food dishes. Preventing lorikeet deaths
Obviously the best solution to these problems is to stop feeding the birds altogether. The only feeding method recommended by the NPWS is to plant a variety of flowering native shrubs, such as grevilleas, callistemon (bottlebrushes) and banksias, around your garden. These plants not only look good; they also provide safe, healthy food for blossom-feeding birds such as lorikeets and honeyeaters.
I felt the need to post a reply to clear a few things up, You should not feed wild birds as posted above and I completely agree with that entire post. In addition to that whether a wild, aviary or pet bird, Lorikeets should NEVER be fed seed! Lorikeets in particular have bristles on their tongue which they use to eat nectar etc. And seeds wear this down, it can also damage their beak! Lorikeets are not meant to be fed a diet of seed, it is hard for them to digest and the sunflower seed is the seed with the highest amount of fat in it, like candie to children but more detrimental to their health. Other parrots, with some exceptions, should only have a diet that includes 10% seed and sunflower seeds should be kept as a rare treat. Please DO NOT FEED LORIKEETS SEED!
I give wild lorrikeet visitors granular white sugar, shelled sunflower seeds and weak honey solutions in water.
Are thse foos harmful?
Hi Ian, it’s probably not a good idea to feed them sugar or honey — I’ve heard that can be bad for their immune systems. Sunflower seeds (with shell still on) are ok as are pieces of apple, grapes or pear.
We have been feeding our lorikeets black sunflower seeds and each morning they cray until i give them their ‘treat’. I felt ridiculous as i shared this with a gal that works at Petbarn. She proceeded to tell me that black sunflower seeds are like ‘chocolates’ to the birds, cause their feathers to fall out, and can cause tummy problems. To my astonishment, she continued to share that if one feeds birds daily, that they will come close to starving if one happens to move to another home one day. Sure enough, we are moving in two months. Needless to say after hearing this information, I feel terribly guilty – is this info true? If so, how can i change feeding habits/if at all
I don’t know if that’s true or not. I suspect that if they were in captivity and sunflower seeds were all they eat they wouldn’t be very healthy birds at all.
But these are wild birds and there’s a lot of native vegetation around here.
We don’t feed them everyday either. We get regular visits from upwards of 30 different lorikeets a couple at a time, several times a day. Occasionally I’ll hand feed them some seed – I doubt this is making much of an impact on their health or their natural feeding habits.
You can get bird bells that have several different types of seed in them including sunflower. The lorikeets don’t like the other seed but have to work to get what they want. We put one of them out from time to time, you could try that.
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/animals/TheDangersOfFeedingLorikeets.htm
The dangers of feeding lorikeets
Many people have taken to encouraging lorikeets into their gardens by giving them a variety of alluring foods. These foods are usually based on sugar, honey or jam, which will ensure regular visits to the garden by these wonderfully happy, colourful birds. However, it is this very act of ‘kindness’ that can cause the death of lorikeets at an unnaturally early age.
NPWS officers became concerned at outbreaks of lorikeets dying in large numbers for no apparent reason. They decided to investigate. Autopsies were carried out by NSW Agriculture on a number of these birds. Together with other investigations, these autopsies established that the lorikeets were dying from a disease called necrotizing enteritis. A bacteria called clostridia was isolated as the organism responsible.
Necrotizing enteritis is associated with poor hygiene and an inadequate diet, and it was found that the disease is not normally associated with lorikeets living a natural way of life. The scientists were able to directly relate the lorikeets’ deaths to inadequate artificial diets, and to the unsanitary conditions of trays and other containers from which they were being fed.
Another disease is also having a serious impact on lorikeets. Called psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD) or psittacine circovirus disease, it is considered the most important viral disease affecting cockatoos, parrots, lories, lorikeets and macaws around the world. Affecting the immune system of the birds, it often results in an AIDS-like condition. The keretin in the birds’ bodies breaks down, causing deformed beaks and feathers, and feather loss. The disease is usually fatal, but infected birds may not display symptoms for many months or even years.
Infected birds can drop faeces, which contain the potentially infectious circovirus particles, into the environment to infect other birds. Unfortunately, there is a great potential for the virus to spread at places like feed stations. Clustering in large numbers, many birds may come into contact with contaminated perches and food dishes.
Preventing lorikeet deaths
Obviously the best solution to these problems is to stop feeding the birds altogether. The only feeding method recommended by the NPWS is to plant a variety of flowering native shrubs, such as grevilleas, callistemon (bottlebrushes) and banksias, around your garden. These plants not only look good; they also provide safe, healthy food for blossom-feeding birds such as lorikeets and honeyeaters.
I felt the need to post a reply to clear a few things up, You should not feed wild birds as posted above and I completely agree with that entire post. In addition to that whether a wild, aviary or pet bird, Lorikeets should NEVER be fed seed! Lorikeets in particular have bristles on their tongue which they use to eat nectar etc. And seeds wear this down, it can also damage their beak! Lorikeets are not meant to be fed a diet of seed, it is hard for them to digest and the sunflower seed is the seed with the highest amount of fat in it, like candie to children but more detrimental to their health. Other parrots, with some exceptions, should only have a diet that includes 10% seed and sunflower seeds should be kept as a rare treat. Please DO NOT FEED LORIKEETS SEED!