Black-capped Lory
Lorius lory
A red parrot with a black cap, moss-green wings, and a short dark tail. Note the red bill with a dark nostril area. In flight, shows red, yellow, and black stripes on underwings. Juveniles have brown bills and blue underwings. Groups inhabit forest, edges, and savanna in lowlands and foothills. Most Black-capped Lories have a dark collar, and some also show extensive blackish-blue markings on the underparts, unlike Purple-bellied Lory. The form of Black-capped Lory in the hills of south-central New Guinea lacks the collar and underside markings, so differs from Purple-bellied Lory by dark nostril area and call. Gives a shrill, two- to three-note shriek: “weeee-wooooo.”
Taxonomy
The black-capped lory was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Psittacus lory. Linnaeus based his description of "The first Black Capped Lory" that had been described and illustrated in 1751 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. The name lory is from the Malay word for these brightly coloured parrots. The black-capped lory is now placed in the genus Lorius that was introduced in 1825 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors.<p>Seven subspecies are recognised that vary considerably in colour:
- Scientific name
- Lorius lory
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittaculidae
- Genus
- Lorius
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Their black-capped lory inhabits the primary forest and forest edges in most lowland areas up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) (sporadically to 1,750 m (5,740 ft)), but not monsoon forest or coconut plantations. It is usually found in pairs and occasionally in groups of 10 or more. Their diet includes pollen, nectar, flowers, fruit and insects.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
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Crypturellus strigulosus
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