Coconut Lorikeet
Trichoglossus haematodus
Very long-tailed lorikeet, mostly green but bright red chest and underwing is striking in flight. Dark hood with thick yellow border is striking. Generally in wooded lowlands but recorded to more than 2000m in some locations. Unique within its range. Similar Rainbow Lorikeet has a purple belly patch and more vibrant purple face, but the two do not overlap. Gives a series of chattering notes while perched, in flight sharp screeching squeals betray its presence.
Identification
The coconut lorikeet measures 25–30 cm (10–12 in) in length and weighs around 109–137 g (3.8–4.8 oz). The bill is orange-red, and the head dark blue fading to brown at the neck. It has a yellow collar and green upperparts. The breast is red with blue-black barring, and the belly is green with yellow barring. The tail is green above and barred in green and yellow below. The male's iris is bright red, while in the female it is orange-red.
Taxonomy
In 1758, English naturalist George Edwards described this species as the red-breasted parrakeet in his work Gleanings of Natural History. He had obtained a stuffed specimen from a China warehouse in London, that had come from the East Indies. "It is a parrakeet, equal to any I have seen for beauty; and I believe hath never been described or figured until now." In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the coconut lorikeet in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected on the island of Ambon in Indonesia. He used the French name La perruche variée d'Amboine and the Latin name Psittaca amboinensis varia. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.<p>Acknowledging both previous authors as having written about the same species, Carl Linnaeus formally described the coconut lorikeet in 1771 as Psittacus haematod.(us). He had abbreviated the name to avoid it spilling over onto the next line. The shortened form was followed for many years. The specific epithet is from the Ancient Greek haimatōdēs for "blood-red". Hence the translation of its binomial name is "bloody hair-tongue".<p>For many years, the species was broadly defined with 20 or 22 subspecies recognised, and was known as the rainbow lorikeet. This name has been reapplied to eastern Australian populations, now classified as a distinct species Trichoglossus moluccanus. Also recognised as distinct species are the sunset lorikeet (T. forsteni), leaf lorikeet (T. weberi), marigold lorikeet (T. capistratus), red-collared lorikeet (T. rubritorquis), and Biak lorikeet (T. rosenbergii).<p>Six subspecies are recognised:<p>"Coconut lorikeet" has been designated as the official common name for the species by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).
- Scientific name
- Trichoglossus haematodus
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1771)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittaculidae
- Genus
- Trichoglossus
Range and habitat
Trichoglossus haematodus is found in eastern Indonesia, on Buru, Seram, Misool, Waigeo, Numfoor, Yapen and the Aru Islands, in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea on New Guinea, in the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia.<p>The species occupies a wide range of lowland and wooded hill habitats, including mangroves, rainforest, nypa forest, swamps, savanna and woodland. It also occupies human-modified areas including coconut plantations, gardens, agricultural land and disturbed forest. It is found from sea level up to as high as 2,440 m (8,010 ft); this upper altitude level varies by location.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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