Lorikeets galore!

[Ashling]

Last weekend I went to my holiday house with my bf to celebrate our first anniversary... but that isn't the exciting part ;) While we were walking past a tree I noticed a hollow and I thought about looking in, when a rainbow lorikeet shot out and flew off into a patch of trees. I got my bf to lift me up so I could see down the hollow and there were eggs in there! I hope we didn't disturb the mother bird too much.

The next day we went to a bird store and met a young one winged cinnamon lorikeet. Apparently his wing had been chewed off by his parents! I had a hold and was able to turn him on his back and he tapped his beak on my shoulder and preened my hair
There was a mutation rainbow lorikeet I had never seen before- he was almost black but you could make out the rainbow markings. He was stunning! There was also a friendly normal colored baby who was very noisy and three adults in an aviary which were even noisier!

Well I certainly got my lorrie fix that weekend! :)

[WhiteRaven]

Sounds nice. :) I'm still waiting for my new pied lorikeet awwwww. >:

I wonder what that black rainbow lorikeet mutation was? It sounds gorgeous. Did it look like this: http://mywebsite.bigpond.com/donpaul...s/footer_1.jpg ?
I don't know what mutation that is, or even if it's even a rainbow lorikeet? It's in the Trichoglossus genus at least.

[Newticus]

Maybe it's an Austrailian thing. I have never seen or heard of lory mutations before.

I live in Canada, but that's really cool. I'll have to go take a look on the internet to see what mutations there are.

Melanie

[Typhoonkin]

i live in AUS too, but i've only ever seen the normals, i might have to go on a lorihunt!

i think my sig is a little big, i'll get around to changing its size tomorrow i think! sorry!

[Ashling]

There is a pet shop near me selling lutino lorikeets and cinnamon. I like the normal colouring best :) Here's a link to the mutations so you can have a look...
Bird Photos

[Ashling]

There is a pet shop near me selling lutino lorikeets too. I like the normal colouring best :) Here's a link to the mutations so you can have a look...
Bird Photos

[WhiteRaven]

Yes, as far as I know rainbow lorikeet mutations are only available in Aus.

I finally found a breeder who may have some pieds and even paid (only because he is very well known, speaks at parrot conferences and even developed some of the mutations). But when all his bubs coloured up it turned out that none of them were normal pied. x__x So he's looking around for other breeders in the area. I've been trying to get a pied since Feb. D: So I hope it all works out.

The normal wild lorikeets are of course gorgeous. I may be a little biased but I think they are the most beautiful parrots. :) But I don't know how I would handle one that looked just like my last one.

[Rahni]

Hey guys,
just keep in mind how mutations are developed. People don't like to realise that their lovely yellow-sided greencheek conure is actually a product of multiple parent/offspring breedings, and will be genetically compromised and may be more prone to illness. (You see this in purebred dogs- each breed has its own health issues.)
By mating parents to offspring, they are producing a genetically weaker bird, and the chances of a gene for a new colour showing up in such a bird is quite good.
Off course some mutations do appear in the wild, however this is EXTREMELY rare, and most birds don't live very long as they stand out to predators as being different.
And on a personal note, I think that if you don't like the normal colours of the bird, then get a bird whose natural colours you do! And again, personally, how could anything be an improvement on a rainbow lorikeet, one of the most wonderful and colourful parrots in all the world? (no, I'm not in the tiniest bit biased!)

[Newticus]

Rahni I agree with you, to a point.

If they are good breeders with a sound knowledge of genetics and husbandry they usually out cross mutations so that they become genetically sound, at least for the most part.
Dog breeds become compromised because they interbreed parents, offspring and siblings, often because it is too much work create a lot of puppies to sell with different dogs.
The irish setter and now the golden lab are good examples. They are all screwed up, not from the breeders trying to make the breed but because the demand was/is so high that the only concern is to breed as many puppies as possible.

That is also the same reason why certain problems in dogs are not bred out (pomeranians and luxating patellas) Everyone wants a pom, so the breeder concentrates on making as many pups as possible instead of doing the responsible thing and breeding the problems out.

That doesn't mean that bird breeders are any different at all. So yes you do run into the risk of coming across less strong birds because of their breeding. This hold true even for non mutations though. back yard and bulk breeders may also breed parents, offspring and siblings together because it cuts down on the cost of finding appropriate partners.

Melanie

[Typhoonkin]

yeah, i understand, and then even recommended breeders can turn out to be cruel scum. *angry face*

anything to make a buck :(