Greedy: Rainbow lorikeets are accused of hogging trees. HWT Image Library BIRD lovers are killing rainbow lorikeets with kindness - and respected ornithologists at Birds Australia are not unhappy about the deaths.
Humans hand-feeding the brightly plumed birds have helped spread a lethal disease through the species - up to 30 birds have been found dead at sites from Reservoir to Glen Waverley.
The deaths and reports of disease have worried Wildlife Victoria and Melbourne University's Wildlife Health Surveillance unit, which has called for reports from the public.
But Birds Australia conservation manager Chris Tzaros said the sugar-fuelled, hyperactive and raucous parrots have proliferated at the expense of other parrot species and he was not sad to hear they were dying by the dozen.
"They have adapted too well in suburbia with people planting ornamental eucalypts and banksias that flower all year, and the smaller honeyeaters can't get a look-in," he said.
"They are gregarious, hang around in flocks and their call is ... raucous, and their numbers are out of hand.
"They are considered a menace in Western Australia."
The birds are believed to have caught necrotic enteritis from hand and supplementary feeding and eating off dirty seed trays.
Symptoms include diarrhoea, vomiting, lethargy and regurgitation.
Report sightings of sick or dead rainbow lorikeets to pamw@unimelb.edu.au