New arrival sparks Code Orange for birdwatchers

A FLURRY of excitement among birdwatchers over exotic orange-headed birds arriving on our shores has turned out to be common garden birds sporting dyed heads.

Birdwatch Ireland was inundated with phone calls and emails in recent weeks over the brightly crowned birds with the orange plumes turning up all over the country. As the bird wasn’t listed in any field guides, householders became convinced it was a new species colonising Ireland. But it turned out to be the common sparrow and starling staining their heads by dipping their beaks into the nectar of a plant called the New Zealand Flax, which has been planted in recent years in Irish gardens.

BirdWatch Ireland spokesman Jamie Durrant said many bird lovers were convinced they had spotted a new addition to the Irish bird family. “A lot of people started sending in pictures of this bird with the orange head. It wasn’t in the field guides so they thought it must be a new species. As it turned out it was the common species of sparrows and starlings with their heads dyed orange. They had been feeding on the nectar of the New Zealand Flax and the brightly coloured pollen dusts the top of their heads and stains it a vivid orange.”