ABC Wednesday - L

L is for Lory

Lories are beautiful birds which come in a variety of colours. My favourite has to be the Duyvenbode Lory, and the reason for this is because I once owned one.

This is Caleb.



I think Duyvenbode Lories are often overlooked because they are not immediately eye catching. But I fell in love with Caleb as soon as I saw him. As you can see in the photos he was mostly a rich chocolate brown with flashes of an amazingly bright yellow/orange. This bright colouring was most obvious in flight as it is most prominent beneath the wings and tail. You can also see a blue tinge to his tail which was most obvious when the sun caught it.

Caleb on his specially adapted poo catcher!



Lories have a very soft diet of mostly fruit and in the wild nectar. They have specially adapted tongues, which are somewhat like a feathery tube, which they would use to get nectar from plants. Caleb was fed a special Lory mixture that was a bit like packet baby food, fed fairly wet, and also fruit and a runny honey mixture. Because of this runny diet you can imagine what his poo was like!! He had an amazing habit of shooting it at someone if they weren't to his liking. So a special perpex sheild was attached to his cage to protect everyone and everything.

Caleb and his toys



Caleb loved to come out and play, this bell was one of his favourites probably because it was noisy. He would sometimes lie on his back and kick his toys like a cat.

Unfortunately Duyvenbodes can be very noisy. Caleb was a real mummy's boy and took a dislike to my, then, husband. As soon as he walked in the door Caleb would start this awful shreeching noise and wouldn't stop until my husband left again. The time came when I received an ultimatum, him or the bird. So unfortunately I had to sell Caleb. Probably the wrong decision as he is now my ex husband but that's life!!

One of the funniest things about owning one of these birds is trying to get insurance for them. I phoned pet insurance companies then got told surely I wanted motor insurance for my Lorry!!!

I found this amazing picture of a Duyvenbode Lory in flight at Warren Photographic.



Beautiful aren't they?