The red-fronted lorikeet (''Hypocharmosyna rubronotata''), also known as the red-spotted lorikeet or red-rumped lorikeet 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 found in northern

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

and the island of

Biak Biak is an island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and corals. The large ...

. 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 ...

is subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial ...

Taxonomy

This

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

was formerly placed in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Charmosyna ''Charmosyna'' is a genus of parrots in the family Psittaculidae. Taxonomy ''Charmosyna'' contains the following three species: * Josephine's lorikeet (''Charmosyna josefinae'') * Papuan lorikeet (''Charmosyna papou'') * Stella's lorikeet (''C ...

''. It was moved to the resurrected genus ''

Hypocharmosyna ''Hypocharmosyna'' is a genus of parrots in the family Psittaculidae that are endemic to New Guinea, the Maluku Islands and the Bismarck Archipelago. Taxonomy The genus ''Hypocharmosyna'' was introduced in 1891 by the Italian zoologist Tommaso S ...

'' based on a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2020. Two subspecies are recognised: *''H. r. rubronotata'' (Wallace, 1862) – Found on

Salawati Salawati is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua (formerly West Papua), Indonesia. Its area is 1,623 km2. Salawati is separated from New Guinea to the southeast by the Sele Strait (a.k.a. Galowa Str ...

, the West Papuan Islands,

Irian Jaya New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

, and

. *''H. r. kordoana'' ( Meyer, AB, 1874) – Found on Biak, Geelvink Bay, and Irian Jaya.

Description

The red-fronted lorikeet is around in length and weighs . They are

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

and exhibit a large difference in appearance between sexes. The males of ''rubronotata'' possess red forecrowns with red bills and orange eyes. They have purple or blue ear

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are s ...

which are streaked with a paler blue along with red underwing coverts. They have a yellow-tipped green tail, with the base of side tail feathers being red. The females have green forecrowns with green ear coverts which are streaked with green or yellow. They also have green underwing coverts and red markings on the upper tail coverts. The males of ''kordoana'' tend to have larger but paler forecrown along with ear coverts that more bluish than purple. The females look the same as ''rubronotata''. Juveniles look the same as adult females, but juvenile males additionally have red underwing coverts and dark and unstreaked ear covert, a yellow underwing band. They have brown beaks with pale brown eyes. They make soft, harsh sounds whole in flight. They have also been observed making sharp ''kss'' notes.

Distribution and habitat

The red-fronted lorikeet inhabits northern

and the island of

. It is found in humid forest, forest edges and coconut plantations, and is also occasionally observed in trees and shrubs in open country up to an elevation of above sea level.

Behaviour and ecology

These parakeets have been observed in small flocks of up to 10 birds flying above the forest. They will feed with other species of lorikeet while feeding on flowers in the canopy.

Breeding

The breeding season is in July-August. Eggs are laid in

clutches A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts) ...

of 2. The eggs are in size. The eggs have an

incubation period Incubation period (also known as the latent period or latency period) is the time elapsed between exposure to a pathogenic organism, a chemical, or radiation, and when symptoms and signs are first apparent. In a typical infectious disease, the in ...

of 23 days, and chicks are

fledged Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between hatching or birth and becoming capable of flight. This term is most frequently applied to birds, but is also used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnerable c ...

by the age of 7 weeks.

Food and feeding

The lorikeets feed on pollen, nectar, flowers and seeds.

Relationship with humans

The parrots are uncommon pets.

Conservation

The species is listed as least concern and seems to have a stable population. Listed as Cites II species on Cites Checklist.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1264169 red-fronted lorikeet Birds of New Guinea red-fronted lorikeet Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN