The little lorikeet (''Parvipsitta pusilla'') is a species of

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoide ...

in the family

Psittaculidae Psittaculidae is a family containing Old World parrots. It consists of five subfamilies: Agapornithinae, Loriinae, Platycercinae, Psittacellinae and Psittaculinae. This family has been accepted into ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World' ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found else ...

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

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and 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 ...

s are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.

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 branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''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 southwards through Queensland and New South Wales from the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range 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 a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

musk Musk ( Persian: مشک, ''Mushk'') 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 sub ...

and

purple-crowned lorikeet The purple-crowned lorikeet (''Parvipsitta porphyrocephala''), (also known as the porphyry-crowned lorikeet, zit parrot, blue-crowned lorikeet, purple-capped lorikeet, lory, cowara, lorikeet, and purple-capped parakeet) is a lorikeet found in scr ...

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 over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...

'', '' Angophora'' and '' Melaleuca'' species. They have also been known to feed on native grasstrees (''

Xanthorrhoea ''Xanthorrhoea'' () is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants endemic to Australia. Species are known by the name grass tree. Description All are perennials and have a secondary thickening meristem in the stem. Many, but not all, ...

'' spp.), and occasionally on fruit like the native mistletoe and introduced loquat (''

Eriobotrya japonica The loquat (''Eriobotrya japonica'') is a large evergreen shrub or tree, grown commercially for its orange fruit and for its leaves, which are used to make herbal tea. It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant. The loquat is in the family ...

''). 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 a ...

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.

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 (Australia) 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