Australia has a lot of parrots. Some are prettier
than others. The red collared lorikeet is a particularly handsome multicolored
bird. Most of the year it is well behaved and a dandy around town in Darwin.
However, as the dry season changes into the wet, the “Drunken Parrot Season”
begins in Australia’s northern Territory (1).
The parrots get unusually friendly, stagger about,
and fly into things in a thoroughly un-parrot-like manner, that is, at least
for a well brought up lorikeet. The hangovers are rumored to be bad and some of
them end up dead. A very sad state of affairs.
One source of the problem is the fermenting fruit
that is available to binge on. But before we “tut tut” and censure the birds,
there is another suggestion out there. It is that there may be a virus which is
the root of the problem, either on its own or in conjunction with the booze.
A few years ago, the staggering parrots were few.
Now the number has grown very significantly. The time has surely come to lend a
helping hand. A twelve step program won’t work here. A concerted veterinary research
effort is clearly needed.
