WHEN we think of parrots, we typically conjure up an image of bright, flashy and conspicuous birds that are easily detected and observed.

Perhaps one exception to this rule is the Little Lorikeet – one of the smallest species of parrots in Australia and one that is certainly more difficult to see than most.

They are a bird of the eucalypt canopy, and their small size and green plumage helps them blend in with their surrounds remarkably well.

A pair of these birds could be feeding in nearby trees and if not for their intermittent squirting calls, they could quite easily go unnoticed.

In fact, they are most frequently seen as they flush from the foliage, usually after being chased by another bird, or as they rapidly fly overhead, again usually first noticed by their calls.

Like other species of lorikeets, the Little Lorikeet is primarily a nectar–feeder, visiting flowering eucalypts to feed on pollen and sugary nectar.

They have a specially adapted brush–tipped tongue that helps them lap up their liquid diet as they clamber with great agility, often upside down, through clumps of blossom and foliage.

They will also consume some fruits and foliage insects and galls, especially during the breeding season when they need to feed young in the nest.

Once a bond is formed, Little Lorikeets – like most parrots – pair for life.

Even outside the breeding season, pairs will remain closeknit and birds will roost and forage together.

At concentrations of food, especially during the non–breeding season, flocks may form, sometimes in association with other nectar feeding species such as the similar, Purple–crowned Lorikeet and a range of smaller honeyeaters.

Though they will occur in areas where there are numbers of larger honeyeaters, such as wattlebirds and friarbirds, they tend to 'eat around the edges' of the main nectar source, in order to avoid competition and aggression.

Little Lorikeets nest in small hollow spouts or branches of a tree, usually high above the ground, during spring and early summer.

Sometimes, a tree hollow is prepared by a pair of birds at the onset of nesting, with birds excavating rotting wood from a hollow spout in order to make it an ideal nest site.

In the North East, Little Lorikeets are mostly observed in forested areas where there are flowering ironbarks or box eucalypts.

However, they also occur in towns where there are flowering trees along roads and in parks and gardens.

When these trees are not in bloom, Little Lorikeets either feed on other sources of nectar, such as mistletoe, or move to other regions, which may be hundreds of kilometres away, forever chasing the nectar supply.