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Published : Saturday, 21 May 2011, 10:03 AM EDT
DARWIN, Australia -- Drunk lorikeets were falling out of the sky in the northern Australian city of Darwin, the Northern Territory News reported Saturday.
Despite tough laws on alcohol consumption across the Northern Territory, a vet was preparing for another season of alcohol-fueled avian vertigo.
The noisy birds -- famous for creating a racket at the Friday Palmerston Markets, on the outskirts of Darwin -- act in a drunk manner and then fall over, according to Ark Animal Hospital vet Dr. Stephen Cutter.
Cutter said the birds were unlikely to be drinking alcohol but might eat from a plant that causes them to become drunk. "It's probably a plant with alcohol -- or toxins in a plant making it worse," he said.
Cutter added that the animal hospital already received about half a dozen sick parrots so far this year.
"It usually happens every May. It's hard to predict," he said.
Cutter was unsure if the birds might have been poisoned by angry residents trying to sleep.
"I know they're not popular. They're lovely pets, but evil when wild," he added.
