huge, noisy flock in the park's main area. Visitors are encouraged to feed them a specially prepared nectar, and the birds will happily settle on people's arms and heads to consume it. Wild rainbow lorikeets can also be hand-fed by visitors at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Semi-tame lorikeets are common daily visitors in many Sydney backyards, though many people, ignorant of their dietary requirements, feed them bread or bread coated with honey. This is an inadequate source of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals that the rainbow lorikeet requires and can lead to health and feather formation issues in young lorikeets. Packet mixes with a nutritional mix suitable for feeding lorikeets are generally available from vets and pet stores. Breeding In southern Australia, breeding usually occurs from late winter to early summer (August to January). Elsewhere in Australia, breeding has been recorded in every month except March, varying from region to region due to changes in food availability and climate. Nesting sites are variable and can include hollows of tall trees such as eucalypts, palm trunks, or overhanging rock. One population in the Admiralty Islands nests in holes in the ground on predator-free islets. Pairs sometimes nest in the same tree with other rainbow lorikeet pairs, or other bird species. The clutch size is between one and three eggs, which are incubated for around 25 days. Incubation duties are carried out by the female alone. Rainbow lorikeets are mostly monogamous and remain paired for long periods, if not for life. Status Overall, the rainbow lorikeet remains widespread and often common. According to the annual Birdlife Australia census, it is the most commonly observed bird in Australia. It is therefore considered to be of least concern by BirdLife International. The status for some localised subspecies is more precarious, with especially T. h. rosenbergii, the Biak lorikeet (which possibly is worthy of treatment as a separate species), being threatened by habitat loss and capture for the parrot trade. As a pest The rainbow lorikeet was accidentally released into the southwest of Western Australia near the University of Western Australia in the 1960s and they have since been classified as a pest. A feral population of rainbow lorikeets was established in New Zealand after a North Shore, Auckland, resident illegally released significant numbers of captive-reared birds in the area in the 1990s, which started breeding in the wild. By 1999,