In the house behind ours in Prospect there is a huge palm tree. We sit outside in the evening watching the comings and goings of the many different types of birds that treat the palm tree as a multistorey residence. One evening there was a really strong wind and in the morning we found a very young Rainbow Lorikeet among the geraniums. It was looking very sorry for itself.
We have two cats and we realised that once the cats got out in the garden the little bird was too vulnerable to survive their attention. We kept the cats inside and I rang the RSPCA. They couldn't help directly but referred me to the Bird Rescue and Wildlife Care organisation. I rang them and they said, try to keep the cats in as long as possible. Put the little bird higher up in a tree where it wouldn't be so vulnerable to the cats. If the parents of the bird were nearby they would come and feed the little bird and it was highly likely in those circumstances that it would recover and eventually be able to fly in a few days.
When I went back outside the little bird had already managed to move to a low branch on a tree. As the day went by the little bird made its way further up the tree until it was very close to the top. A mature Rainbow Lorikeet began to appear at the top of the huge palm tree and began a sad call. We guessed it was the mother trying to locate the baby bird.
Eventually she located the baby in our much smaller tree. Mum came down and started feeding the little bird and was then joined by Dad. We watched over a couple of days as this took place and eventually we came back from work one night to find all three birds had gone and no doubt returned to their penthouse suite in the palm tree.
John Hewson
Photographs copyright of John Hewson
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