The Rainbow Lorikeet is a blue-headed, orange-breasted, green-backed parrot from eastern Australia that laps up nectar and pollen with a brush-tipped tongue. It does not live wild in the United States, though some US zoos keep lorikeets in walk-through aviaries. In Australia it is so common in leafy suburbs that it has topped the national backyard bird count.
Appearance
- Appearance
- About 10–12 in (25–30 cm) long. Red bill, deep blue head and belly, a yellow-green collar, green back and tail, and an orange-yellow chest. In flight it shows red underwings and a yellow wing bar. Males and females look alike.
- Voice
- Constant screeching and chattering.
- Seasonal forms
- Young birds have a black bill that turns orange as they mature.
Look-alikes
Scaly-breasted LorikeetTrichoglossus chlorolepidotus
The scaly-breasted lorikeet is smaller (about 9 in / 23 cm) with an all-green head and a yellow breast scalloped with green; the rainbow lorikeet has a blue head and a bright orange breast.
Why they get mixed upThe two often feed together in mixed flocks in eastern Australia.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- rainforest
- woodland
- coastal scrub
- leafy suburbs
- Range
- Common along Australia's east coast. Escaped or released birds have settled in Perth (Western Australia) and Hong Kong. It is not established in the wild in the United States, but some zoos, such as Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, run walk-through lorikeet aviaries where visitors can pay to feed the birds nectar.
- Seasonal presence
- Mostly stays put, but flocks wander to follow flowering and fruiting trees.
Behavior
- Diet
- Mainly nectar and pollen, plus fruit, seeds, and a few insects. Eucalyptus blossoms are a key food in Australia. Bread and honey make a poor diet that can harm young birds.
- Social life
- Travels in fast, noisy flocks and gathers in big communal roosts at dusk.
Life cycle
- Nest
- Lays its eggs on chewed, rotted wood in a tree hollow, usually in a eucalyptus.
- Clutch size
- Usually 2 eggs (1–3)
- Incubation
- About 23–25 days, by the female
- Fledging
- About 45 days in the nest; both parents feed the young.
Name and classification
- About the name
- It used to be treated as part of the Coconut Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus); around 2019 the Australian birds were split off as their own species. There are two subspecies: the widespread eastern Australian form and a Cape York Peninsula form.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
- Status
- Where it has been introduced, it can be a pest: it is declared a pest in Western Australia because it competes with native birds for food and nest holes. New Zealand began removing a feral flock around Auckland in 2000 and eliminated the wild population by 2014.
- Threats
- Each year, thousands of birds in southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales develop 'lorikeet paralysis syndrome' and can't fly or eat; a plant toxin is the suspected cause.
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