Hanging parrots are birds in the genus ''Loriculus'', a group of small

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 ...

s from tropical southern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. About long, hanging parrots are mostly green plumaged and short-tailed. Often head coloring helps to identify individual species. They are unique among birds for their ability to sleep upside down.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Loriculus'' was introduced in 1849 by the English zoologist

Edward Blyth Edward Blyth (23 December 1810 – 27 December 1873) was an English zoologist who worked for most of his life in India as a curator of zoology at the Asiatic Society, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta. He set about updating the museum ...

for the blue-crowned hanging parrot. The name is a diminutive of the genus ''

Lorius ''Lorius'' is a genus of lory in the parrot family Psittaculidae. The genus contains six species that are distributed from the Moluccas in Indonesia through New Guinea to the Solomon Islands. They have characteristic red plumage with varying am ...

'' that was introduced by

Nicholas Aylward Vigors Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Ireland, Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system. Early life Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow, in 1 ...

for the lorys in 1825. Fifteen species are recognised:

References

Hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

Birds of Indomalaya L Taxa named by Edward Blyth {{parrot-stub

Taxonomy

See also

References