This is a picture of a rainbow lorikeet feeding on my deck. We leave wild bird seed out and they don't miss a trick. They visit in large numbers and are spectacular in colour. These fellows are so bloody noisy though! They squabble and fight and leave poop everywhere. But gee they are a stunning creature. I have been working on these guys for a while, trying to recreate a lorikeet in crochet. Getting the body shape and the look was the challenge. I used a bit of creative licence and tried to cutesy them up a bit.
The Rainbow Lorikeet is a small parrot and native to Australia. Colours to try when making rainbow lorikeets include yellows, greens, orange, blue and reds. They have red beaks and red eyes. I can't get red eyes here so had to do with yellow. I think they look a bit evil with the red eyes any way. Sort of like the demon lorikeet.
Surprisingly enough this colourful bird can be hard sometimes to pick out in its natural habitat. They are a small bird generally 11 to 12 inches long, weighing 120 to 140 grams on average females are generally a bit smaller and adolescents have duller markings They are said to live over 20 years in the wild. These guys make a heck of a racket from "screeching" in flight to "chatting" during feeding.
Rainbow lorikeets are found all over the north-east of Australia. Their habitat ranges from forests of all sorts (heathlands, open forests, rainforest) coastal or inland, to any area including urban areas that have suitable trees - and of course my deck.
They are normally found in flocks and make a heck of a racket at feeding time. “move over will ya mate so I can have some seed as well?" "crikey mate I was after that bit". We try and imagine what they are saying, as they a a bit like a noisy family at dinner time.
I have attempted to achieve the look of the rainbow lorikeet without getting too complicated with the pattern. I am amazed at how tame they are as I can walk right up photograph them. This guy was a bit of a poser.
I never get tired of watching these birds. They have a sanctuary here where the birds flock in the thousands at feed time. Quite a spectacle. Interestingly though they have pest status in some areas and aren't real popular with the farmers. Somehow the little blighters found their way to Perth University and were released into the wild in the 60s. The numbers have grown to pest status. They have also made it to New Zealand. A flock of these birds can strip an orchard bare in no time. I believe there are also rainbow lorikeets in the Eastern Coast of the US.
The crochet pattern of the rainbow lorikeet is the latest in my Australian Native Birds series. I did enjoy this one as the colours were so much fun. Thank you to my wonderful testers, the patterns are available on my etsy store. Thanks for looking.
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