It turns out that in the lead-up to the silly season, humans aren’t the only species getting drunk on holiday spirit.
Rainbow lorikeets in Adelaide’s Botanic Garden have been wreaking havoc after getting ‘drunk’ on fermented nectar from the Weeping Boer-bean tree.
In fact, the later months of the year are sometimes referred to as ‘drunken parrot season’ by ornithologists studying the behaviour of birds before the wet season.
Rainbow lorikeets, who are already renowned for their ear-piercing screeching, grow even louder when intoxicated, much to the consternation of residents of the area.
Rainbow lorikeets in Adelaide’s Botanic Garden have been getting ‘drunk’ on fermented nectar
Birds flock to drink fermented nectar from ‘the drunken parrot tree’ (Weeping Boer-bean tree)
The Weeping Boer-bean tree has actually been named ‘the drunken parrot tree’, as lorikeets flock to drink fermented nectar from its flowers – which can have a similar alcohol strength to beer.
‘Fruit-eating birds are particularly vulnerable because they depend so heavily on a food source that ferments, and to get enough proteins they need to eat a lot of it,’ ornithologist Dr Glen Chilton told Australian Geographic in October.
But as it turns out, drunk birds often end up in exactly the same place as drunk humans at the end of the night – in the emergency room.
Veterinary surgeon Dr Stephen Cutter reports scores of people bringing drunken lorikeets to the Ark Animal Hospital in northern Australia after finding them huddled in corners or stranded at the bottom of a tree.
Lorikeets act ‘sloshed’ and are sometimes unable to walk or fly after drinking from the tree
Dr Cutter examines a ‘completely sloshed’ lorikeet at the Ark Animal Hospital in Darwin, NT
Red-collared lorikeets in the Northern Territory can look ‘sick’ and ‘sad’ after a night of drinking
‘Mostly they just look sick – just a sad little bundle of feathers hiding from the world,’ Dr Cutter explained.
‘They tend to be depressed, they can’t fly, and they have difficulty climbing or balancing on perches.’
And many of the birds brought into the hospital aren’t just mildly drunk – ‘they’re completely sloshed, sometimes for days at a time’.
One of the problems is that the ‘drunken parrot tree’ is now springing up in great quantities all over Australia, which is adversely affecting the local lorikeet population, Dr Chilton said.
Inebriated birds are fed, watered and nursed back to health after drinking fermented nectar
But ornithologists have little to no knowledge of the long-term effects of inebriation on birds.
Professor Gisela Kaplan, an expert in animal behaviour at the University of New England in Armidale, said that even if alcohol doesn’t physically harm the birds, it still makes them extremely vulnerable.
Inebriated lorikeets tend to be helpless when threatened by predators and unable to fly properly, said Professor Kaplan, much like people who attempt to drive while drunk.
‘They’re acting exactly as if they were drunk,’ Ark Animal Hospital veterinary nurse and wildlife manager Mandy Hall told Vet Practice. ‘They’re stumbling around with their heads dropped down, walking up to walls and leaning their heads against the walls.’