DVD—Lories and Lorikeets—A Focus on the Brush-tongued Parrots (55 mins)

All members of the Loriinae family are seen in a visual environment encompassing native habitat and in captivity—covering suitability, housing, nest box designs, sprinkler systems, rodent proofing and the necessary furnishings to effectively manage these birds. 

DVD Review

The Loriinae members are vivacious flocking species and Peter has captured much of their playful antics in the wild, portraying their joyful personalities and colour as they forage and bathe amongst foliage. I particularly enjoyed seeing the Tahiti Blue Lories feeding on banana flowers and playing together, and the beauty of the Ultramarine Lory.

These species have developed brush-like filaments—papillae—on their tongues as an adaptation to their nectar and pollen food source and, as Peter shows, some species have developed particularly long tongues for this purpose.

To cite a few snippets of the journey through the various habitats in the Loriinae range—the highlands of Papua New Guinea, habitat of the Stella’s, Emerald, Mussenbroek, Fairy and Goldies; Fiji, home to the rare and nearly extinct Red-throated Lorikeet; and in Australia, near Inverell, close-ups of Blakely’s Redgum nest sites occupied by Musk and Little Lorikeets.

Following the wild habitat journey Peter focuses on these parrots in captivity all taken from complexes around the world. Husbandry aspects include Peter’s personal daily food mixture and other dietary items while breeding footage provides an insight into hand rearing techniques and chick development.

Finally Peter presents a showcase of specific species within the various genera—Chalcopsitta, Eos, Pseudos, Trichoglossus, Psitteuteles, Glossopsitta, Vini, Phygis, Lorius, Charmosyna, detailing their distribution. In the Black-capped group there is a rare image of the cyanuchen subspecies from Biak Island.

Most aviculturists will not have seen many of the species featured—such as the Josephine’s, Duchess, Red-chinned, Striated, Red-flanked and Red-fronted Lorikeets or the Melanistic Papian Lory.

Peter Odekerken has a real passion and talent for still photography and in recent years he has captured many parrot and finch species in both their wild habitat and captivity on high definition DVD.

For those who have watched Peter’s other DVDs which include South American Parrots, Save the World’s Parrots, In Search of Parrots—Vols 1 & 2 and A Selection of Finches this DVD is a definite to add to the collection.
In my mind this is one of the most complete DVD’s Peter has ever produced to date.

Reviewed by Sheryll Steele-Boyce