Economic Impacts of the Conservation of the Mojave Shoulderband Snail (‘Helminthoglypta ‘Coyote’ Greggi’) – Student Pulse

Source: Economic Impacts of the Conservation of the Mojave Shoulderband Snail (‘Helminthoglypta ‘Coyote’ Greggi’) – Student Pulse

Article by Cyrene Krey.

Lorikeets at Nicholas Conservatory

Last month was the final month to visit the “Wings of Wonder” exhibit at Nicholas Conservatory in Rockford, IL where they were featuring lorikeets. They had many of the small birds and allowed guests into the exhibit to interact with them. There was also cups of nectar available to purchase to feed the lorikeets. Thankfully, there was also a sanitation station to clean up at after the birds inevitably did their business on you or a friend :p

I went with my husband and while he fed them nectar, I took lots of pictures of these beautifully colored animals.

In the wild lorikeets prefer forest lowland, mountain forest, plantation, and mangrove habitats in Australia and the South Pacific islands.

Lorikeets tend to have long, pointed tails and are typically green with patches of red and yellow but can display a wide variety of coloration.

They are nectar-feeding birds known for their bright colors, playful personalities, and mimicry skills.

Flocks of lorikeets can be exceptionally large, sometimes numbering in the thousands.

Birds of prey and snakes are common predators of lorikeets, which they avoid by hiding out in treetops and maintaining large flocks to warn each other of danger.

These guys eat mostly flowers, pollen, and nectar with a brush-like tongue that is designed for gathering nectar and pollen and a bill designed for crushing flowers.

These are some loud birds! Especially in groups!

The lorikeet exhibit may have been temporary, but the conservatory is still a beautiful place to visit year-round. After spending time with the birds, we walked around the rest of the conservatory and admired the wide variety of tropical plant life on display as well as everything else the conservatory had to offer.

Nicholas Conservatory “brings the tropics to the Midwest.”

The Eclipse Lagoon contains two fountains and a waterfall and is home to lots of beautiful fish!

It’s a great place to take kids to learn about tropical plants or to hang out for a few hours on your own. It’s very beautiful and on the quieter days is very relaxing.

Interesting head planters at Nicholas Conservatory. (c) Cyrene Krey

One of the colorful tropical plants at Nicholas Conservatory. (c) Cyrene Krey

I don’t make it a practice to sell photos from locations that charge some sort of entry. So these photos won’t ever be available for sale. Since that’s the case, I’d love it if you used them for educational purposes (with credit to both myself and the conservatory). No commercial use though, please. And be sure to support your local conservatory or gardens!

References

San Diego Animals. Lory & Lorikeet.

Nicholas Conservatory.