Rainbow lorikeets eating meat leaves bird experts baffled
Meat eating rainbow lorikeets have been found in a Queensland backyard and experts have been left stunned and horrified, according to reports.
Griffith University's Professor Darryl Jones is shocked a population of rainbow lorikeets have been chowing down on raw meat at backyard feeding station north of Brisbane.
Jones is researching the impact of backyard feeding on bird populations. He told ABC lorikeets usually eat nectar and pollen, which they obtain from native plants and shrubs.
"I'm up to date with all the kinds of crazy things that birds are eating all over Australia.
"To see a lorikeet eating meat astonishes me completely. I have never heard of such a thing before,” he said.
The Elimbah property owner, Bill, has been putting put out pets mince for magpies, currawongs and kookaburras. He also put put seed for vegetarian birds, like lorikeets. But Bill noticed the lorikeets started eating the meat seven years ago.
Jones said that Bill clearly put out enough seed for the lorikeets, so the bird’s decision to eat meat was a mystery. He also said the fact the lorikeets were defending the meat over the seed by chasing away other bird species was “the strange part.”
"It makes me wonder very strongly that these particular birds, the individuals in the picture, are probably needing some protein.
"But the birds look extremely healthy in those pictures,” he said.
He suggested that maybe the lorikeets saw other birds eating the meat and decided to give it a go.
"It's extremely unusual."
Jones believed that lorikeets eating meat had never been documented before.
Licensed wildlife carer Fran Sanders says she is horrified by the discovery.
"They're not meat eaters, that's for sure...It's incredible, I'm just so stunned."
Sanders urged caution when feeding backyard birds, saying seeds could prevent birds from feeding on pollen and nectar. Meat like pets mince can cause fatty liver disease.
