On the other hand, when one of our budgies escaped, he was found by someone who said the budgie seemed to have befriended the lorikeets and was hanging around with a flock of rainbows. We did recapture the budgie but he had caught some disease when he was on the loose.

 

That being said, I would think befriending a lori in the wild would have much less risk, as being free the budgie can get away if needed... where as if they were 'housed' together, there is no getting away!

That being said, I would think befriending a lori in the wild would have much less risk, as being free the budgie can get away if needed... where as if they were 'housed' together, there is no getting away!

 

Oh I totally agree!

 

I think that the wild lorikeets probably just "put up with" Oliver rather than actually befriend him because he wasn't competing for the same food and he was no threat. Even though they can be quite vicious if they set their minds to it, I think it's more of a defence mechanism rather than an attack response.

 

In the end, the person who found Oliver actually rescued him from the beak of an attacking magpie. All his Rainbow Lorikeet "friends" had nicked off when the magpie came and he immediately targeted the odd one out. Just lucky the man came home at that exact moment and was able to save the little budgie. Oliver went on to live another 4 years!

 

As much as I love the Rainbow Lorikeets for helping shield a little blue budgie from predators for so long, I still wouldn't trust them!