The great hanging parrot (''Loriculus stigmatus''), also called Celebes hanging parrot, Sulawesi hanging parrot and maroon-rumped hanging parrot, is a species of

parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

in the family

Psittaculidae Psittaculidae is a family of parrots, commonly known as Old World parrots, though this term is a misnomer, as not all its members occur in the Old World and Psittacinae also occurs in the Old World. It consists of six subfamilies: Psittricha ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

and nearby smaller islands in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, where it occurs in forest, secondary growth and tall

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

Description and taxonomy

With a total length of approximately 15 cm, it is a small parrot, but the largest species of

hanging parrot Hanging parrots are birds in the genus ''Loriculus'', a group of small parrots from tropical southern Asia. About long, hanging parrots are mostly green plumaged and short-tailed. Often head coloring helps to identify individual species. They a ...

. It has traditionally been considered

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

, but recent work has re-validated the

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

''croconotus'' from

Muna Muna may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Muna (band), an American pop band * ''Muna'' (Markéta Irglová album) * ''Muna'' (Muna album) * ''Muna'' (2019 film), a Nigerian film by Kevin Nwankwor * ''Muna'' (2023 film), a British short film Pl ...

and

Buton Island Buton (also Butung, Boeton or Button) is an island in Indonesia located off the southeast peninsula of Sulawesi. It covers roughly 4,727 square kilometers in area, or about the size of Madura; it is the 129th List of islands by area, largest is ...

, and ''quadricolor'' from the

Togian Islands The Togian (or Togean) Islands are an archipelago of 56 islands and many offshore islets, situated in the Gulf of Tomini, off the coast of Central Sulawesi, in Indonesia. The largest islands are Batudaka Island, Batudaka, Togean Island, Togea ...

, leaving the

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In th ...

for the population on Sulawesi itself.Collar, N. J. (2007). ''Taxonomic notes on some insular Loriculus hanging-parrots.'' Bull. B.O.C. 127(2): 97-107. The

plumage Plumage () 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, there can b ...

of the nominate is overall green with an indistinct yellowish tinge to the mantle, and a red chin, leading edge of the wing, rump and crown (the red crown is missing in females). Compared to this, ''L. s. croconotus'' has slightly paler wings and tail, and a relatively distinct yellowish tinge to the mantle, while ''L. s. quadricolor'' has a clear orange-yellow patch on the mantle, a smaller red chin-spot, and a slightly brighter red rump.Sulawesi Hanging Parrot
likes to feed on fruit such as papaya and lichen.

Breeding

Sulawesi Hanging parrots nest in tree cavities. There are usually three eggs in a clutch. The female incubates the eggs for 20 days and the chicks leave the nest about 33 days from hatching.

References

Loriculus Birds described in 1843 Endemic birds of Sulawesi Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Salomon Müller {{parrot-stub