Rainbow Lorikeet

The Rainbow Lorikeet is one of Australia's most familiar and colorful parrots, easily recognized by its striking combination of colors.

Appearance

The head is a rich deep blue-violet, the nape and back are bright green, and the breast shows an orange-yellow band with dark blue-black barring extending onto the belly. The bill is bright red-orange and the eyes are red. Green wings and tail complete the vivid plumage. Sexes look alike.

Key field marks

• Deep blue head contrasting with a green back and wings
• Orange-yellow breast band with dark barring on the belly
• Bright red-orange bill
• Fast, direct flight often in noisy flocks

Similar species

The Scaly-breasted Lorikeet is green overall with yellow streaking on the breast and lacks the blue head. The Musk Lorikeet is smaller, mostly green with a red forehead and cheek patch rather than a fully blue head. The combination of blue head and orange breast band makes the Rainbow Lorikeet distinctive within its range.

Range

Native to eastern and northern coastal Australia, from Cape York south to South Australia, the Rainbow Lorikeet has also been introduced to Perth, Western Australia, and to Auckland, New Zealand, among other locations.

Habitat

It occupies rainforest, eucalypt woodland, coastal scrub, mangroves, and heavily uses urban parks and gardens where flowering plants provide reliable food.

Migration

Largely sedentary, though flocks are nomadic locally, tracking the flowering of eucalypts and other nectar-producing trees.

Behavior

Rainbow Lorikeets are gregarious, forming large, noisy flocks that gather at flowering trees and communal evening roosts, sometimes numbering in the thousands.

Voice

Calls are loud, sharp screeches and chattering notes, given constantly in flight and while feeding.

Feeding

They feed acrobatically, often hanging upside down, using a specialized brush-tipped tongue to lap up nectar and pollen; fruit and some seeds and insects supplement the diet.

Nesting and breeding

Nests are built in tree hollows, typically high up in eucalypts, with clutches of one to three eggs incubated by the female.