Where do they live?

Rainbow Lorikeets are found across eastern Australia and have also established populations around Perth, thriving in urban environments. On the Northern Beaches, they are commonly seen in leafy suburbs, parks, and streets lined with flowering trees, where they feed and roost in lively flocks. At dusk, huge groups of lorikeets (sometimes thousands) gather together in shared communal roosts. You can see an example of this in the evening around the Manly corso.

What do they eat?

Lorikeets feed on nectar and pollen from flowering trees and shrubs such as bottle brush, banksia and grevillea. They also eat fruit and insects.

While it can be tempting to feed visiting Rainbow Lorikeets, providing bird seed or artificial foods can do more harm than good. Their specialised brush-tipped tongues are adapted for nectar feeding, and hard seeds can damage their beaks and tongues. Feeding stations can also spread disease, including psittacine beak and feather disease, a deadly and incurable condition that is easily transmitted through saliva and feather dust when birds gather at shared food sources. In addition, regular feeding can make lorikeets more aggressive and dependent on people, while discouraging their natural foraging behaviours in the wild. The best way to encourage Rainbow Lorikeets to your garden is to create a backyard habitat that encourages natural foraging behaviours (more information below).

What do they look like?

Rainbow Lorikeets are one of Australia’s most recognisable birds, famous for their striking, colourful plumage. They have a bright blue head, green wings and back, an orange-yellow chest, and a red beak. Males and females look very similar and are difficult to tell apart. Juvenile birds can be identified by their darker, almost black beak, which gradually changes to a bright red as they mature.

How can you support Rainbow Lorikeets?

• Create a backyard sanctuary: Turn your garden into a safe refuge for local wildlife by planting native shrubs and ground covers that offer food and shelter. Help protect them further by keeping pets indoors at night. For practical tips, see Backyard Habitat. 
• Keep and protect all trees with hollows, even if they are dead: large tree hollows are critical for Rainbow Lorikeets to lay eggs and raise chicks. 
• Get involved in citizen science: Take part in surveys like the Aussie Bird Count and use apps like iNaturalist to help researchers track where birds are occurring and how populations are changing over time.

Fun facts

• A group of lorikeets is called a "pandemonium".
• They have specially adapted, brush‑tipped tongues that act like a paintbrush, allowing them to easily lap up nectar and pollen.
• Rainbow Lorikeets are mostly monogamous and form long-lasting partnerships.