Rainbow lorikeet

Rainbow Lorikeet
Range
Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia and its surrounding islands ...

The Rainbow Lorikeet is a small, brightly-colored Australian parrot with a brush-tipped tongue. This active bird has a shrill call while flying and chatters while eating.

Rainbow lorikeet
Trichoglossus haematoduc
In Australia, these common and brightly-coloured parrots can cause damage in orchards and vineyards.

Green-naped Rainbow Lorikeet
Green-naped Rainbow Lorikeet
Family: Psittacidae"Zazu"Trichoglossus haematodusPhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough
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The rainbow lorikeet is a species, or kind, of parrot.
There are several kinds of rainbow lorikeet.
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Rainbow Lorikeet
(T. h. moluccanus) perching on a garden fence in Australia
Skeleton of a parrot
Family Strigopidae: The New Zealand parrots.

The Rainbow Lorikeet has many subspecies. Two are represented below: Green-naped Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus haematodus), Swainson's Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus).

Rainbow Lorikeet Illustration
Rainbow Monocle-bream, Scolopsis monogramma
Rainbow Runner, Elagatis bipinnulata (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825)
Rainbow Runners at North Solitary Island ...

They can be confused with their closest relative, the Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus,). Anyone other than a bird expert would be hard pressed to tell them apart. The Red-collared Lorikeet measures roughly 29 cm.

Compared to other parrots, such as rainbow lorikeets, they are a fairly quiet and sedate bird. Lorikeets are much more animated and gregarious and may demand more interaction with their humans.

Scientific studies are showing that other species in Australia such as the Noisy miner, Rainbow Lorikeets and Sulfur crested cockatoos (all natives!) are the major contributors of taking over nesting hollows and being aggressive towards other birds.

Masked Lapwings, Grey Shrike-thrush, Rainbow Lorikeets, Myna Birds, Little Pied Shag, Little Black Shag, Australian Woodduck, Pacific Black Duck, Hardhead or White-eyed Duck, Royal Spoonbill, White-faced Heron, Lewin's Honeyeater, Eatern Whipbird, ...

The Rainbow Lorikeet is one of the most strikingly coloured Australian birds and they make very amusing pets. However, they should be fed a special diet of nectar substitute and this makes them a very messy bird as the faeces are very liquid.

The flocks sometimes have thousands of birds and blanket the whole sky. Some species, such as the rainbow lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus, are nomadic and follow the flowering season of the eucalyptus trees up and down the coast of Australia.

See also: Parrot, Cockatoo, Finch, Pigeon, Eagle