LInda Waters, Musk Lorikeets breakfast on Xanthorrehoea (ANIMALS 2026)

One early morning I came across a Xanthorrhoea grove in a stunning show of flower spikes. Their little flowers seem to sparkle in the shifting sunlight. First came the Wood-swallows chattering among themselves as they feed on the nectar. Quite suddenly the Wood-swallows took off replaced by a flock of Musk Lorikeets. Obviously a pecking order was in place. The Lorikeets fed and frolicked for a while providing a great opportunity to photograph them among shafts of morning sun. In nearly all the photographs taken I noticed that the birds were facing downwards. This led me to discover that birds (particularly Honeyeaters and Lorikeets) adopt the downward facing position to access nectar from the tubular flowers.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.