Lories & Lorikeets
(Family Psittacidae, Subfamily Loriinae)

Lories are parrots and are often regarded as the most beautiful members of the parrot family, due to their brilliant colors.  They are medium sized parrots with an average size of 22 to 33 centimeters and weigh from 130 to 230 grams.  They have a life span usually in the range of 25 to 35 years.  They are very intelligent parrots and have the ability to mimic sounds, including human speech.  They have been called the clowns of the parrot world because of their outgoing personalities as well as their gregarious and inquisitive nature.  They feed predominantly on pollen, nectar, and fruit.  If you get a close look at their tongues, you will see the tip has a small area of 'brushes.'  These 'brushes' are actually papillae and this is what lories use to collect pollen.  Lories are native to Indonesia and range from the Philippines, to New Guinea, the South Pacific islands and 6 species are found in Australia.  The term lorikeet is mainly used to describe the species that have a long, narrow, pointed tail.  While lories generally have a shorter, stouter tail.  Unfortunately many lories are endangered in the wild and are listed on CITIES II.

Here at the Kangaroo Conservation Center we have 2 species of Lories:

Blue Mountain Lorikeet
(Trichoglossus haematodus)

Also known as Swainson's Lorikeet, these birds are found from Eastern Australia down to Tasmania.  This species is sometimes referred to as a rainbow lorikeet, though in reality there are approximately 21 subspecies included in the 'rainbow' genus (genus Trichoglossus.)  This species weighs from 120-157 grams.  Preferred nesting sites are holes in a hollow tree limb, with 2-3 eggs laid.  Incubation lasts 26 days, and chicks leave the nest after 8 weeks.

Black Capped Lories
(Lorius lory)

This lory's native habitat ranges from the Indonesian islands to New Guinea, this is one of the larger lory species.  Black Capped lories have a red body and a black head which makes them look like they have a 'cap' on their head.  They lay a clutch of 2 eggs with an incubation of 25 days.