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.”
Identification
The black-capped lory (Lorius lory) also known as western black-capped lory or the tricolored lory, is a parrot found in New Guinea and adjacent smaller islands. It is a colourful and relatively robust lory (31 cm (12 in)). There are seven subspecies, all with green wings, red heads and body around the wing, a black cap, grey-black cere, yellow underwings, and blue legs and belly. Most also have a blue nape and mantle (area between wings on the back). It remains overall widespread and common, but the subspecies cyanuchen is relatively rare, with fewer than 5,000 individuals remaining.
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
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
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