Coconut Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus)

Coconut Lorikeet

Subspecies

Monotypic species

Genus

Genus Trichoglossus comprises an arboreal group of honey-eating Parrakeets. There are eight species and more than 30 subspecies recognized in this genus. They have a characteristically slender body form, a long wedge, shaped tail and an incurving upper mandible. Members of the genus are characterised by barring, sometimes prominently, on the upper breast. These lorikeets are distributed widely through Australia, Wallacea and Melanesia, with outliers in the Philippines and Micronesia.

Physical charateristics

The rainbow lorikeet has a total length from tip of the bill to the tip of the tail of about 26 cm. The sexes are similar in plumage but the female is smaller and has a shorter bill. The general plumage is very colourful, with green, blue, black, red and yellow, but there is a lot of variation between the different sub-species (20 sub-species). The legs are grey. It has a red bill and iris. Immature birds have a duller plumage than the adults, a black-brown bill and brown iris.

Listen to the sound of Coconut Lorikeet

[audio:http://www.planetofbirds.com/MASTER/PSITTACIFORMES/Psittacidae/sounds/Coconut Lorikeet.mp3]

Copyright remark: Most sounds derived from xeno-canto

recorded by Judith Lattaway

wingspan min.:	0	cm	wingspan max.:	0	cm
size min.:	25	cm	size max.:	30	cm
incubation min.:	23	days	incubation max.:	26	days
fledging min.:	70	days	fledging max.:	80	days
broods:	1		eggs min.:	1
			eggs max.:	3

Range

Australasia : South Moluccas, West New Guinea, East to Loyalty Islands. The Rainbow Lorikeet occurs in coastal regions across northern and eastern Australia, with a local population in Perth (Western Australia), initiated from aviary releases.

Habitat

The Rainbow Lorikeet is found in a wide range of treed habitats including rainforest and woodlands, as well as in well-treed urban areas.

Reproduction

The eggs of the Rainbow Lorikeet are laid on chewed, decayed wood, usually in a hollow limb of a eucalypt tree. Both sexes prepare the nest cavity and feed the young, but only the female incubates the 1-3 eggs for about 25 days. Young fledge after 7-8 weeks.

Feeding habits

The Rainbow Lorikeet mostly forages on the flowers of shrubs or trees to harvest nectar and pollen, but also eats fruits, seeds and some insects.

Video Coconut Lorikeet

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frpF5RgJols

Conservation

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
The species has been heavily traded: since 1981 when it was listed on CITES Appendix II, 100,388 wild-caught individuals have been recorded in international trade

Migration

Largely sedentary with some nomadic movements in response to seasonal flowering or fruiting of plants.

Distribution map

Coconut Lorikeet distribution range map

Planet of Birds