Abstract
T he Goldie's Lorikeet Psittueteles goldiei is a rather small species which has become established in European aviculture for some years now. The first birds were brought to western Europe at the end of the 1970s and very soon the first breeding-results were achieved. Nowadays captive bred specimens are regularly available and for those just beginning Jory-keeping and breeding this certainly is an ideal bird - quite hardy and not too loud.
A friend of mine had been keeping Agapornis and Forpus species for some time and decided to try it with lories. He got a pair of Red Lories then obtained four captive bred Goldie's Lorikeets from two different breeders. Because this species can be kept and bred in groups, all four birds were placed in a 2 x lm aviary that was 2m high - an indoor aviary which was placed in a greenhouse.
The birds were fed commercial Jory powder (Necton Lory ®) which was made fluid with hot water. Also all kinds of fruit were given on a daily basis. The lories did well and after two years he bred his first Jory - a Red
one. Two years later the first Goldie's Lorikeet pair laid two eggs and both babies hatched but were found two weeks later dead in the nest. The same happened with the second brood and the third and the fourth and the fifth! A total of 10 young from both pairs were lost in the next two years in this way until I met this breeder at a bird exhibition.
Talking about birds, he told me his problem and I promised him if I could find an answer I would inform him. I've taken care of a huge number of Lories (both species and specimens) and although we also lost a chick at the nest now and then, I'd never heard of it on this scale.
At two of the three public collections where I've worked we fed all our lories exactly the same food as my friend did and because he also had successfully bred the Red Lory on the same diet I didn't believe his Goldie's problem was caused by the food.
Three months later (and another two dead chicks in the nest) I found in an old German magazine an article from the famous Swiss aviculturist Mr. R. Burkard which described the same problem in his collection and that he had solved it by giving his birds freshly skinned mealworms.
I instantly phoned my friend and told him what I'd read. He immediately bought a large number of mealworms and from then on freshly skinned worms were given to the Goldie's Lorikeets daily.
The positive results were enormous. Of the six chicks hatched last year, five were raised successfully. The sixth broke its neck after leaving the nest, which, of course, had nothing to do with the food.