The cardinal lory (''Pseudeos cardinalis'') is a species of

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittaco ...

in the family

Psittaculidae Psittaculidae is a family containing Old World parrots. It consists of five subfamilies: Agapornithinae, Loriinae, Platycercinae Platycercinae is a subfamily of birds belonging to the family Psittaculidae that inhabit Oceania. It consists of ...

. The cardinal lory lives mainly in the

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...

and the lowland forests of the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its ca ...

Bougainville Island Bougainville Island ( Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil'') is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which is part of Papua New Guinea. It was previously the main landmass in the German Empire-associated North Solomons. Its land area ...

and easternmost islands of the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

. It was previously found in the genus Chalcopsitta. It prefers ''

Syzygium ''Syzygium'' () is a genus of flowering plants that belongs to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. The genus comprises about 1200 species, and has a native range that extends from Africa and Madagascar through southern Asia east through the Pacific. I ...

'' species and other fruit-bearing trees that have red blossoms.

Description

The cardinal lory is long. All

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

is red. The beak is orange with black at its base. The bare skin at base of beak and around eyes is black, and the irises are orange-red. Its legs are grey. The male and female are identical in external appearance. The beaks of the juveniles are dull orange with more prominent black areas than the adults, pale grey eye-rings, and yellow irises.Forshaw (2006). plate 7.

Aviculture

In 1989, the Solomon Islands permitted a few cardinal lories to be exported to the United States. However, because of the Wild Bird Conservation Act in 1992, the exportation of cardinal lories from the Solomon Islands to the US was banned except for approved breeding.

References

*
Avibase
{{Taxonbar, from=Q664917 cardinal lory Birds of Bougainville Island Birds of the Solomon Islands cardinal lory cardinal lory Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN