The scaly-breasted lorikeet (''Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus'') is an Australian lorikeet found in woodland in eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The common name aptly describes this bird, which has yellow breast

feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier ...

s broadly edged with green that look like scales.

Taxonomy

The scaly-breasted lorikeet was first described by German zoologist Heinrich Kuhl in 1820. Other names this bird is known by include the gold and green lorikeet, greenie, green lorikeet, green and yellow lorikeet, green keet, green parrot, green leek, and green leaf. It is often colloquially referred to as a "scaly". Its specific epithet is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

root ''khlōros'' 'green, yellow', and ''lepidōtos'' 'scaly'.

Description

The scaly-breasted lorikeet is about long.Forshaw (2006). plate 13. The crown and sides of head are emerald-green slightly tinged with blue, while the feathers of the back of the neck and throat and breast are yellow, broadly edged with green, giving scaly appearance. The tail is green with the base of the outer tail-feathers marked with orange-red. The lower flanks, thighs and undertail-coverts green are strongly marked with yellow, while the underwing-coverts are orange-red. They have orange-red eyes, and their bills (beaks) are dark coral-red. Their legs are generally grey-brown. Male and female are similar in external appearance. Juveniles appear similar to adults, but their tails are shorter. Eyes are pale brown or black, and bills are brown with some yellow markings or orange with brown markings.

Distribution and habitat

This lorikeet is common in most timbered areas of Eastern Australia from Bamaga, the tip of

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

, south to

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

district on the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

south coast; also on some offshore islands. They are generally confined to coastal plains and adjacent tablelands; occasionally found along watercourses west 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, that runs rough ...

. They are abundant and mostly sedentary in north; less numerous and nomadic in the south. They favour open, lightly timbered areas and ''

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

'' thickets.

Behaviour

The lorikeet's predominantly green plumage blends so well with foliage that the bird is hard to detect. An observer beneath a tree where scaly-breasted lorikeets are feeding may take some time to spot the birds. Their dark coral beak is often the first indications to their whereabouts. They seem to favour open, lightly timbered areas, but may be seen in ''melaleuca'' thickets when the trees are flowering. The scaly-breasted lorikeet is usually seen in small flocks, flying overhead, or feeding among the outermost branches of

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

ing trees. They frequent most

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

ed areas and are often seen in

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

s and parklands – even in large cities. Scaly-breasted lorikeets fly swiftly and in a straight path. As they pass overhead the sound of their rapid wing-beats can be heard along with their high-pitched call.

Calls

Scaly-breasted lorikeets are extremely noisy birds and attract attention by their screeching and chattering. The contact call of these birds is a metallic, rolling, continuous screech in flight. They have a shrill chatter when feeding. While resting, they have a soft, gentle twitter. Although, these birds can be quite noisy as mating season draws nearer. These birds are often making loud tweets/squawks when looking for their food.

Feeding

Scaly-breasted lorikeets have similar habits to the related

rainbow lorikeet The rainbow lorikeet (''Trichoglossus moluccanus'') is a species of parrot found in Australia. It is common along the eastern seaboard, from northern Queensland to South Australia. Its habitat is rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas. Six ...

, and the two species often group together in mixed flocks. Both species feed mainly on

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

, such as that from the broad-leaved paperbark ''(

Melaleuca quinquenervia ''Melaleuca quinquenervia'', commonly known as the broad-leaved paperbark, paper bark tea tree, punk tree or niaouli, is a small- to medium-sized tree of the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. It grows as a spreading tree up to tall, with its trunk cov ...

)'', and

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

, but they also eat blossoms,

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

, other

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

, and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s and their

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e. They are very fond of cultivated fruits and often cause damage in orchards; they also raid

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

and

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

crops to feed on unripe milky grain.

Breeding

Breeding occurs in all months except March and April though usually August–January in the southern part of its range. These birds nest in hollow trees, usually high above the ground, with a layer of wood dust serving as a mattress at the bottom. They usually lay two

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 a ...

s, rarely three; they are white, oval, and about 26 X 20 mm. Incubation lasts about 25 days. Males spend time in the nest hollow, but apparently do not share in the incubation. Both parents feed the young, which leave the nest six to eight weeks after hatching.

Aviculture

The scaly-breasted lorikeet adapts fairly well to captivity, and is playful and quiet, although it can be aggressive. A blue mutation, with dark blue plumage and white breast markings, has been bred in Australia.Low, p. 90

Gallery

File:Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus -Australia -two perching-8-4c.jpg, Two adults in Australia File:Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Kobble Dec06.JPG, Kobble Creek, SE Queensland File:Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus (juvenile)-8.jpg, Juvenile

References

Cited texts

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External links

Photos, audio and video of scaly-breasted lorikeet
from Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library {{Taxonbar, from=Q258168

scaly-breasted lorikeet The scaly-breasted lorikeet (''Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus'') is an Australian lorikeet found in woodland in eastern Australia. The common name aptly describes this bird, which has yellow breast feathers broadly edged with green that look li ...

Birds of Queensland Birds of New South Wales Birds of Victoria (Australia) Endemic birds of Australia

Articles containing video clips