Why does a lorikeet have a tongue like a tiny paintbrush? Let's meet the lorikeet.
Rainbow lorikeets come from eastern Australia. They're up to 30 centimetres long, with a blue head, an orange chest and green wings, and one was the first Australian parrot known to appear in print.
That brush-tipped tongue is the secret. In the wild, they feed mostly on nectar and pollen from flowers, plus soft fruit, not hard seeds.
They're playful clowns, acrobatic and full of energy. They can be loud, some learn a few words, and with good care, many live 15 years or more.
At home, a lorikeet needs wet nectar and a dry lory mix, with fresh fruit and vegetables, plus toys and water to splash in. Lorikeets love a bath.
A common mistake? Feeding a seed mix. A lorikeet's stomach isn't built to grind hard seeds. And a wet diet means runny droppings that can spray, so plan for easy cleaning.
When a lorikeet boards with us, it's out of the cage between 9 AM and 7 PM, about 4 to 6 hours a day, depending on how it gets on with the others.
Please send its own lory food from home, as our house mix is seeds and pellets. Most birds love making pellet soup, but for a lorikeet, breakfast is already soup. Plus, daily photo and video updates in the BST Mobile App.
Paintbrush tongue, bright feathers, big personality. Book a stay at birdsittingtoronto.ca.
