Category: Birds
This eye-catching little parrot is native to the Australian continent but has been introduced in other locales that include Tasmania, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. Their presence as an introduced species can be problematic to local native bird species, as they are dominant and aggressive. As pets they are energetic, playful, and can be very friendly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_lorikeet
http://www.northernparrots.com/rainbow-lorikeet-fact-sheet-blog97/
Asleep at the wheel?
Can you imagine spending nearly all of your life in the air? The common swift doesn’t have to - it just does! From the day this bird learns to fly, it almost never touches the ground voluntarily - it eats, drinks, mates, and may even sleep while flying. While sleep walking can be problematic in humans, many birds have the ability to enter a state called unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, where one half of the brain sleeps as the other remains alert. This method of “sleeping with one eye open,” is a great way to avoid becoming another animal’s meal, and has led to the suspicion that these birds, who almost never willingly land, also sleep while in flight!
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