The little lorikeet (''Parvipsitta pusilla'') 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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is a small parrot, predominantly green in plumage with a red face. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are temperate eucalyptus forest and woodland,

subtropical or tropical dry forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

and

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in large ...

Taxonomy

The little lorikeet was first described by ornithologist George Shaw in 1790 as ''Psittacus pusillus''. Its specific epithet is the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''pusilla'' "small". Other common names include tiny lorikeet, red-faced lorikeet, gizzie, slit, and formerly a local indigenous term ''gerryang''.

Description

Measuring in length, the male and female are similarly coloured, although the latter is a little duller. The crown, lores and throat are red, the nape and shoulder bronze-coloured and the remainder of the plumage green. The belly is paler and yellow-green. In adults, the bill is black and the iris golden in colour. Immature individuals have a paler orange face and a brown iris and bill.

Distribution and habitat

The little lorikeet is found in eastern and southern Australia, from the vicinity of

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

southwards through Queensland and New South Wales from the western slopes of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...

eastwards to the coast, through most of Victoria and southeastern South Australia. It also occurs in Tasmania although it is uncommon there. They are found in forest, especially in the vicinity of flowering or fruit-bearing vegetation.

Behaviour

The little lorikeet is gregarious and often flocks with

rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

musk Musk is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial substances with similar odors. ' ...

and purple-crowned lorikeets.

Feeding

Little lorikeets feed mostly on nectar and pollen of flowers in the open canopy of woodland trees like ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

'', ''

Angophora ''Angophora'' is a genus of nine species of trees and shrubs in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Endemic to eastern Australia, they differ from other eucalypts in having juvenile and adult leaves arranged in opposite pairs, sepals reduced to projec ...

'' and ''

Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles, bottlebrushes or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They ...

'' species. They have also been known to feed on native grasstrees (''

Xanthorrhoea ''Xanthorrhoea'' () is a genus of about 30 species of Succulent plant, succulent flowering plants in the family Asphodelaceae. They are Endemism, endemic to Australia. Common names for the plants include grasstree, grass gum-tree (for resin-yie ...

'' spp.), and occasionally on fruit like the native mistletoe and introduced loquat ('' Eriobotrya japonica''). They will occasionally visit orchards.

Breeding

Breeding season is from May in the north, or August in the south, to December. The nest is a hollow in a tree and a clutch of 3–5 matte white roundish

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

s, measuring 20 x 16 mm, is laid. The incubation period is around three weeks.

Aviculture

Although first exported to Europe in 1877, the little lorikeet is only very rarely seen outside Australia. Even in its native country, it is uncommon in captivity. It has a reputation of being difficult to keep.

Conservation status

The Little Lorikeet has a wide distribution in Eastern Australia, however, a decline in abundance has been recognised in two Australian States. The species is currently listed in South Australia as 'Endangered' under the National Parks and Wildlife Act (1972). In NSW the species is listed as 'Vulnerable' under the Biodiversity Conservation Act (2016). In South Australia the Little Lorikeets have become rare where they were once abundant. In NSW there has been a marked decline in flock sizes and frequency.

Gallery

File:Little Lorikeet pikedale.ogg, Pair of little lorikeets, Pikedale, S. Queensland

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q244259 little lorikeet Birds of Queensland Birds of New South Wales Birds of Victoria (state) Birds of South Australia Endemic birds of Australia little lorikeet Articles containing video clips Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN