It seems I owe the lorikeet an apology. It wasn't drunk but concussed. I'm not sure how well the vet examined him, but most vets know a lot about dogs and cats, but don't have much experience with birds, especially wild ones.
Donna took the lori over to Natasja's on the weekend. When she examined it she found its pupils were dilated and took a long time to react when a light was shone in them. It also has a bruised wing.
Anyone that lives in Australia and is familiar with lorikeets will know how prone they are to flying into things; walls, sheds, parked cars. It's really scary standing in your back yard and suddenly having a half dozen of them take flight and fly past you below head height. My usual reaction is too duck as low as possible as soon as I hear them take off. The picture below was taken just before I ducked, about six months ago. I still don't know if it was a wing, or just my camera strap that brushed my head as I ducked. I was standing in front of a garden arch at the time and most of them flew through it.
Apparently it can take as long as three weeks for them to recover from concusion. Hopefully it'll be ready for release before we go away on holidays.
