Drunken parrot season isn't referring to a Jimmy Buffett tour.
In Australia's Northern Territory, red-collared lorikeets, a brightly colored parrot, seem to get tanked every year starting at the end of the dry season in June and August and ending with the wet season in October and November. The apparent avian alcoholics stagger about the streets and fall from trees.
"They exhibit odd behavior like falling over or difficulty flying [and] they keep running into things," said veterinarian Stephen Cutter from The Ark Animal Hospital in Australian Geographic.
Like shy humans, the apparently blitzed birds get friendlier and lose their fear of people. But the revelry may be a sign of a deadly illness, not just bacchanal bliss from fermented fruit.
Unlike a human on a bender, the birds don't just sleep it off. The effects last several days, and are accompanied by respiratory problems and a discharge from bird's nostrils, mouth, and eyes. Cutter suspect a virus may be at work.
About half of the affected birds brought into Wildcare Inc NT, a non-profit wildlife care and rescue organization, die. And there are more birds every year. A few hundred were brought in last year.
"Ten years ago we only had two or three," said Mignon McHendrie, the president of Wildcare.
Cutter notes that drunken parrot season started late this year. He has only just now started seeing birds brought in for rehab.
How do these birds get the alcohol? If it is a virus , then i hope scientist can fix it. If i was to see a drunk bird i would have to laugh. I find it cool that birds are like humans in this way , also both birds and humans can die from being drunk. But if the birds cant help it then it is kind of sad. I think it is funny and sad.
ReplyDeleteFor one how do birds get drunk. It would be most humorous to see one of these birds. Hopefully the scientist have a cure or something that can sustain it. This would be horrible if it cannot be fixed though.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very weird thing birds can get drunk. I would also find it humorous if i seen one because i've never seen anything like it. If this could not be fixed bad things will happen.
ReplyDeleteScientist need to find out why the birds get like this. Although, it would be funny to see a drunk bird it could also be dangerous to people if they were flying around drunk. They need to fix this problem to help the birds. That is very weird that they have a season for drunk parrots in Australia.
ReplyDeleteHow does this bird get drunk? Like does it get the alcohol or something from a plant, or does a human give this to the bird on purpose? They also said that when humans drink ,it goes aways quick, than when the bird get drunk, it can last a couple days.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome how birds can get drunk. That makes them more like humans. Its cool that they act the same as humans when they are drunk, by being more friendly and less scared to humans.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the birds get the alcohol. If I seen a drunk bird I would probably laugh for a while. I wonder how it would fly. I think its cool that birds can get drunk like humans can.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what I would do if all of a sudden a drunken bird fell from a tree and hit me on the head. I would probably laugh for a few but then I would get concerned. It may be funny watching a bird stagger around flying and walking funny but like the article said, half the birds die. That's horrible.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't understand how these stranger birds get the alcohol. But I think that's kinda of sad what they get through. But also funny because some have to go to rehab like they actually humans lol. But I hate the fact these beautiful birds die because of it.
ReplyDeleteWouldnt the alcohol hurt their body? I find it kinda cruel that someone would give them this but maybe the birds just found it. I would be really concerned for the bird if i saw it struggling to fly because it was drunk.
ReplyDeletedrunk birds sounds very amusing, although it can be very harmful to thier body. Achole can kill the birds, probably causing brain damage. Even though it might be harmful to the birds body it is still verying amusing to watch a drunk bird.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why someone would give a bird alcohol in the first place. They seem to act the same as people when we get drunk. I also wonder if thet can get addicted to it like humans do.
ReplyDeleteThat's weird, I thought if birds drink alcohol they would die not get drunk. It would be pretty funny seeing birds fall out of trees though. I don't think it's fair to the birds because they are being put in to harms way for humans amusement. I feel bad for the birds cause they would just die and people would be laughing instead of trying to help
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny how the effects on the birds are similar to humans. This isn't a good idea though because the alcohol has a bad affect on the birds. It's not something a bird should be consuming. I would also like to know why the effect lasts several days on the birds and not humans.
ReplyDeleteI never knew that birds could get drunk. I think it is werid and funny at the same time. It might be funny watching a drunk bird walk around for a while, but half of them die. I think it's just cruel. Who would give them that
ReplyDeleteWouldnt the alcohol hurt their body? I find it kinda cruel that someone would give them this but maybe the birds just found it. I'm still confused like would the alcohol affect the bridal body. Since many birds aren't as big as hawks wouldn't it affect those smaller birds more?
ReplyDeleteI wonder why they would give bired alcohol? It is just for entertainment. What every reason there is I think it's a bad idea. This can affect the birds when they are trying to fly. It would be dangerous for them. I wonder if the alcohol affects the birds the same way it does for humans? I also wonder if the birds would get additive to alcohol if they had access to it.
ReplyDeleteBut... where do the birds even get the alcohol? And if scientists are the ones doing it for experimenting, how could they be that cruel? This entire thing is confusing, but it stills hurts to know that these birds are dying. I want the birds to live and not get drunk. I hope someone can help with this soon.
ReplyDeleteI think it's very sad that they have to go through this. I can only imagine what it must be like living in a state of constant confusion and disorder, unable to function properly. These birds need help. They are living animals until this kills them and that's messed up
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