Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus moluccanus Scientific name definitions

25–30 cm; 70–169 g; wingspan 46 cm (1 Higgins, P., Editor (1999). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 4. Parrots to Dollarbird. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Australia. Close ). Bill orange to red; head blue to deep brown lightly flecked pale violet; nuchal collar yellow  ; rest of upperparts and tail green, latter dusky yellow below; <em>nominate</em> has breast barring variable from slight to non-existent; belly dark green; thighs and undertail-coverts yellow barred dark green; underwing-coverts  orange with broad yellow underwing bar. Sexes alike. Immature duller, bill brownish. Superficially resembles <em>T. rubritorquis</em> , but lacks orange-red hindcollar  .

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

• Musk x Rainbow Lorikeet (hybrid) Glossopsitta concinna x Trichoglossus moluccanus
• Scaly-breasted x Rainbow Lorikeet (hybrid) Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus x moluccanus
• Rainbow x Red-collared Lorikeet (hybrid) Trichoglossus moluccanus x rubritorquis

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Most types of lowland and lower montane wooded country, including primary rain forest, secondary growth, scrubby monsoon forest, savanna, riparian woodland, mallee, coconut and other plantations, gardens and suburban areas; tends to favour edges and disturbed vegetation rather than interior of closed-canopy formations.

Considered to be nomadic, presence or absence, or at least quantities, being governed by flowering events; this is particularly pronounced in S of range. Daily movements to offshore islands to and from feeding/roosting areas occur. Detailed study in SE Queensland; of 184 birds banded, 72·8% (n = 134) recovered in same place, while > 10% were recovered elsewhere (n = 19), of which 43% were within 5 km and > 70% were within 10 km, but a few were 40–60 km to N & E (1 Higgins, P., Editor (1999). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 4. Parrots to Dollarbird. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Australia. Close ). Vagrant to Murray River region of South Australia, and is only a vagrant to Tasmania and King I (Bass Strait).

Nectar and pollen from native trees and shrubs, particularly <em>Eucalyptus</em> (e.g. E. gummifera, E. maculata, E. tereticornis) (3 Lepschi, B.J. (1997). Food of some birds in southern Australia: additions to Barker & Vestjens, part 2. Emu. 97(1): 84–87. Close ); also from Pittosporum, Grevillea, Spathodea, Metroxylon, Schefflera, Pterocymbium, Erythrina  , Banksia (especially in coastal areas), Melaleuca, Angophora, Bauhinia, Cocos (of which the species is an important pollinator), Xanthorrhoea, Bombax, Verticordia, Bletharocarya, bottlebrush (Myrtaceae) and mistletoes (Loranthaceae); fruit of Ficus, Trema, Mutingia, Schefflera actinophylla (3 Lepschi, B.J. (1997). Food of some birds in southern Australia: additions to Barker & Vestjens, part 2. Emu. 97(1): 84–87. Close ), citrus, papaya and mangoes opened by fruit-bats, seeds of Cassia and Casuarina, pupae of the poinciana moth (Pericyma cruegeri), psyllid-infested leaves of a Eucalyptus melliodora (4 Endersby, I. (2005). Rainbow Lorikeets Trichoglossus haematodus feeding on psyllid lerps. Australian Field Orn.. 22(1): 42–45. Close ), sap of Eucalyptus resinifera (5 Chapman, A., Bradford, M.G. and Hoskin, C.J. (1999). Sap suckers: a novel bird ‘guild’ in wet sclerophyll forests of tropical north Queensland. Emu 99: 69-72. Close ) and flowers of Archontophoenix cunninghamiana (6 Lepschi, B.J. (1993). Food of some birds in eastern New South Wales: additions to Barker & Vestjens. Emu 93(3):195–199. Close ), Schefflera actinophylla and Platanus orientalis (3 Lepschi, B.J. (1997). Food of some birds in southern Australia: additions to Barker & Vestjens, part 2. Emu. 97(1): 84–87. Close ). Now commonly use introduced plants  including grains of Sorghum, seeds of Solanum, ripening cones of Pinus, fruit of Annona, Cinnamomum, berries of Schinus, apples  and pears; around Melbourne, 61% of feeding observations concerned plants not native to this region, but in this case majority of records involved ornamental eucalypts that are Australian species (7 Smith, J. and Lill, A. (2008). Importance of eucalypts in exploitation of urban parks by Rainbow and Musk Lorikeets. Emu. 108(2): 187–195. Close ). Seen to eat at base of ant-plants Myrmecodion. In one part of Australia found to use 43 species of plant, 87% of the diet consisting of flowers.

No known differences between this species and T. haematodus.

Season Aug–Jan in SE Australia, may be almost year-round in Queensland. Monogamous. Nest in deep unlined hole in limb or trunk of large tree, e.g. Melaleuca and Angophora, and in suburban Perth, in cotton palm (Washingtonia fillfera) and date palm (Phoenix canariensis); once in a building, typically 3–30 m above ground, lined with wood chips and occasionally dry grasses (1 Higgins, P., Editor (1999). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 4. Parrots to Dollarbird. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Australia. Close ). Eggs  1–3 (usually two in wild), white, size 25·4–31·8 mm ×  21·3–24·1 mm; incubation lasts c. 22–25 days, by female alone, commences with first egg in captivity; nestling  period 49–52 days (captivity) or 57–54 days (wild) and young become independent 7–16 days (captivity) or 14–21 days later. Success unknown. Natural predators include Powerful Owls (Ninox strenua) (8 Pavey, C.R., Smyth, A.K. and Mathieson, M.T. (1994). The breeding season diet of the Powerful Owl Ninox strenua at Brisbane, Queensland. Emu 94(4):278–284. Close ).

Not globally threatened. CITES II. Abundant in NE Australia (though recent decline registered on Cape York Peninsula) (9 Perry, J.J., Kutt, A.S., Crowley, G.M., Vanderduys, E.P. and Perkins, G.C. (2011). Changes in the avifauna of Cape York Peninsula over a period of 9 years: the relative effects of fire, vegetation type and climate. Emu. 111(2): 120–131. Close ), becoming less plentiful in SE and although once common in Victoria it is now relatively rare, but increasing around Melbourne (7 Smith, J. and Lill, A. (2008). Importance of eucalypts in exploitation of urban parks by Rainbow and Musk Lorikeets. Emu. 108(2): 187–195. Close ), Sydney (where it is one of the ten most numerous bird species within the city’s suburbs) (10 Major, R.E. and Parsons, H. (2010). What do museum specimens tell us about the impact of urbanisation? A comparison of the recent and historical bird communities of Sydney. Emu. 110(1): 92–103. Close ) and Canberra, and still moderately common in South Australia; rare in Tasmania, where apparently only visitor. Considered to be a major pest at commercial orchards in S Australia. In addition to feral population in Perth , Western Australia (since 1960s, now thought to number c. 20,000 birds) (11 Baker, M.C. (2014). No evidence of a founder effect in Rainbow Lorikeet vocalisations following a population bottleneck. Emu. 114(3): 197–205. Close ), another has become established in Auckland, New Zealand, where there is also evidence of it causing damage to fruit trees (12 Polkanov, A. and Keeling, P. (2000). The rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus) problem in New Zealand. Notornis. 47(3): 175–176. Close ). World population of entire T. haematodus complex estimated at 5,000,000 birds in late 1990s, of which majority presumably present species and T. haematodus.