Mini portrait: Blue-crowned Lorikeet
Blue-crowned Lorikeet
Blue-crowned Lorikeet (Vini australis or Coriphilus australis according to "Howard & Moore's Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World", Vol. I, from spring 2013 as well as latest version 4.1 (August 2018), "Errata and Corrigenda to Volume 1") comes from western Polynesia in Oceania, including the islands of Samoa and Tonga, and is among the smallest lories with its length of approximately 18 cm and a weight of around 50 grams, which means that it only is the size of a sparrow.
It formerly belonged to the Trichoglossus genus, but has for a number of years been categorized under the genus, Ocean Lories (genus Vini), which consists of a total of 5 different, particularly brightly coloured species, including the fantastically beautiful Blue Lorikeet (Vini peruviana) – also called the Tahiti Lori – which has a shiny dark blue plumage.
Despite its modest size, the Blue-crowned Lorikeet has a shrill, high-pitched and creaky call. At the same time, this bird has a lightning-fast and direct flight, and it also uses its flight abilities to cross the waters between the islands in its range. In nature, it likes to climb around vegetation, where it seeks nourishment from the flowers, and it follows the flowering times of the different types of trees.
It can be found in forests, plantations and gardens, or - in other words - wherever there is access to flowers, but you find it in particular between flowering coconut palms and hibiscus trees. Outside the breeding season, it can be observed in groups of 6 - 15 specimens and during the breeding season it is found in pairs.
It typically breeds in hollows in trees. The food consists of nectar, pollen and soft fruits, including tender coconuts and mangoes. With its long brush tongue, which is equipped with papillae (bristles) at the tip, it easily absorbs nectar, as the special tongue acts like a paint brush dipped in a bucket of paint.
In earlier times, this species was difficult to keep alive in human care, and it remains to this day a rarity among aviculturists. Often one is referred to zoos or important bird parks to be able to see this insanely beautiful bird, where the sexes are the same in appearance.
If you are lucky enough to have a pair, you will experience them sitting and resting close to each other, and when the birds are active, they will fly back and forth in the aviary at lightning speed and crawl around in dense natural branches.
Fortunately, the Blue-crowned Lorikeet is not endangered in the wild, where it is commonly found in several parts of its range. However, the population seems to be declining as a result of invasive predators such as e.g. rats.
The Blue-crowned Lorikeet is - like a number of other very small parrot species - an angry little bird that can raise the blue feathers on its head when it is affected, while it screams.
Jorgen Petersen
Conceived/Updated: 30.04.2012 / 10.01.2024
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