Lorikeets accused of being drunk are probably suffering from a virus

Staggering red collar lorikeets in Australia's Northern Territory are not actually intoxicated after all - and it’s taken more than five years for the record to be corrected. Back in 2010 a phenomenon was first observed in Darwin of lorikeets falling out of trees, staggering around looking drunk, and finding it difficult to perch themselves atop of branches. All the hallmarks of a bit too much of the good nectar. But now it has been revealed that the poor parrots have received a bad wrap for the past five years because they were probably never really drunk after all.
It turns out that the most likely explanation is a seasonal virus, akin to the human flu season, that seems to strike the colorful birds in the Top End build-up each year. Wildcare spokeswoman Barbara Backers, who recently had 19 lorikeets in care, have said that the likely respiratory infection was temporary and usually saw the condition resolved within two weeks. “It seems to get into their system and they end up not being able to perch or they can’t lean up properly against a tree,” Ms Backers said.
“The actual condition is sometimes referred to as Drop Lorri Syndrome. But they do actually look drunk.” Five years ago NT Parks and Wildlife Commisson officers were certain fermented fruit nectar was causing the birds to literally fall out of the sky. But Ms Backers said tests undertaken by vets did not find alcohol conclusive in the majority of the birds. Ark Animal Hospital owner Dr Stephen Cutter said the more likely explanation was the birds were dropping from a combination of factors. “Every time they are tested they come back with different things. But we do know it is not alcohol,”
Dr Cutter said. “We still don’t know the exact cause, it may be several different diseases working together, definitely some kind of virus that seems to attack the immune system and usually seasonal. They look drunk as they stagger around and fall over.” Dr Cutter said he usually had around five lorikeets brought into his Palmerston practice a week. An NT Department of Primary Industries spokeswoman said the Government was unable to confirm if the behavior of the birds was due to a “respiratory disease”. But she added there was no laboratory evidence that the birds were intoxicated.