Scientific Classification

Common Name

blue-streaked lory

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Psittaciformes

Family

Loriidae (parrot)

Genus Species

Eos (dawn; refers to red color) reticulata (reticulated; net-like)

Fast Facts

Description

The blue-streaked lory has bright red feathers covering most of its body and blue streaks on the mantle and behind the neck. The secondary feathers are red and black. They also have a red tail and an orange beak. The males and females are not sexually dimorphic.

Size

Adults can reach a length of 30 cm (12 in.).

Weight

140 to 170 g (5-6 oz.)

Diet

They feed on fruit, seeds, buds, nectar, grain, and pollen

Incubation

24 to 26 days

Clutch Size

2 to 3 eggs

Fledging Duration

The chicks leave the nest for the first time when they are 7 to 8 weeks old. However, they may remain with the parents over the summer before moving into the communal roost.

Sexual Maturity

The birds attain sexual maturity around 9 months but usually do not breed until 2 to 3 years of age.

Life Span

These birds may live 15 to 30 years in wild and have been known to live up to 32 years in captivity.

Range

These birds are restricted to Eastern Indonesia in the Banda Sea Islands.

Habitat

These birds inhabit primary and secondary forest, coconut plantations and mangroves. Very little is known about their natural ecology.

Population

Fieldwork in 1993 on Yamdena, which represents around 55% of their range, revealed an estimated 220,000 birds. This species has a very small and declining range, but its population is not severely fragmented. The current population trends are poorly known and this species could be vulnerable to a rapid population decline in the near future due to trapping and deforestation.

Status 

IUCN: Near Threatened
CITES: Appendix II
USFWS:  Lower risk/near threatened

Fun Facts

There are over 50 species of Lories and Lorikeets. Lories tend to be larger and have a short tail, while Lorikeets have a long tail. In Australasia, all species are referred to commonly as “Lorikeets”.

These birds have very specialized tongues for feeding on nectar. Tiny hair-like structures called 'papillae' line the end of the tongue in the shape of an "U." When they extend their tongue to feed, the papillae stand on end, like bristles on a brush, allowing nectar and pollen to be easily soaked up. This trait has earned them the nickname "Brush-Tongued Parrots".owers each day.

Approximately 70% of their day is spent foraging, and they will travel more than 30 miles a day to find food. Some may feed on as many as 650 flowers each day.

These birds are active and noisy, feeding in large groups and even in the company of other parrots.

Lorikeets will establish daily flight paths connecting their feeding sites, which tend to follow the natural contours of the landscape, such as hills, valleys, and rivers. At night, they retreat along those same paths back to their communal roosts.

They will travel long distances in order to locate a suitable nesting site. They may nest in tree cavities as high as 24 m (80 feet) off the ground.

Ecology and Conservation

These birds suffer from habitat destruction, logging, agriculture, and from the exotic pet trade.

The introduction of exotic predators such as cats and dogs has had a negative effect on their population.

In some areas, these birds are considered agricultural pests because they are destructive to crops.

The U.S. Wild Bird Act forbids the commercial import of any bird listed by CITES which includes most parrots.

Bibliography

Forshaw, J.M. Parrots of the World. New Jersey. T.F.H. Publications Inc. 1978.

Low, R. Lories and Lorikeets. New York. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company. 1977.

Parker, S. P. (ed.). Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Birds II. Vol. 8. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1972.

Perrins, C. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Birds. New York: Facts on File Publications. 1985.

aquariumofpacific.org/lorikeets/lorikeets.htm

birdlife.org/datazone/search/species_search.html

santabarbarazoo.org/animals/birds/lorikeet.html

BirdLife International 2018. Eos reticulata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22684515A131914345. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22684515A131914345.en. Downloaded on 25 November 2019.

Photo Credit: Cheerful Blue-Streaked Lory (25093849249).jpg. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Image by: Thomas Quine. Year Created: 2 September 2015. Website: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cheerful_Blue-Streaked_Lory_(25093849239).jpg. License: CC by 2.0 Generic.