Plum-faced Lorikeet

Oreopsittacus arfaki

A small, long-tailed bird of high elevation cloud forest. Slender, green lorikeet with a black bill, purple face, white stripe beneath the eye and a red-tipped tail. Male has a red cap. Western birds show a reddish patch across the lower chest. Travels in small vocal flocks. Told apart from other small montane lorikeets by unique face pattern. In flight, shows a red forewing, red undertail and a yellow bar in the wing. The Red and Yellow-billed Lorikeets are larger and have full red underwings. Call, a fast, high-pitched chattering.

Identification

The plum-faced lorikeet is a mainly green small parrot about 15 cm (5.9 in) long with a long pointed tail. It has two white stripes under each eye. It has a narrow pointed black bill and dark-brown irises. The adult male has a red forehead and the adult female has a green forehead.

Taxonomy

The plum-faced lorikeet is the only species of the genus Oreopsittacus and it has three subspecies:<p>Oreopsittacus Salvadori 1877

Scientific name
Oreopsittacus arfaki
Authority
(Meyer, AB, 1874)
Order
Psittaciformes
Family
Psittaculidae
Genus
Oreopsittacus

Range and habitat

The plum-faced lorikeet's native range is the mountains between about 2000 m to 3750 m of mainland New Guinea across both the Indonesian and Papua New Guinean zones of the island.

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
stable

Photos

Distribution

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