Green-Naped Lorikeet
Description
The Green-naped Lory is the most common of the Rainbow Lories.
It occurs naturally in northern and eastern parts of Australia, as well as on islands north and east of Australia. They can also be found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Zealand, and New Caledonia, where they inhabit rainforests, open forests, woodlands and mangroves.
These social parrots are usually seen in flocks.
They average 26 cm or 11 inches in length (including tail) and weigh approximately 133 g or 5 ounces.
The color of the head is mostly a deep blue. The lower throat and the breast are bright red with a heavy publish-black barring. The abdomen is green
They can be good pets, but some individuals become nippy, especially at sexual maturity. They are not very noisy and can learn to speak fairly well.
Because of their dietary requirements that consists mainly of fruit and nectar, they are messy birds and difficult to maintain indoors unless special arrangements are made to create an indoor environment that is easy to clean and disinfect.
These lories are fairly easy to breed. However, they cannot be visually sexed, so surgical or DNA sexing is recommended. The average clutch size is 3-4 eggs that are incubatored for 24-25 days. The young fledge when they are about 10 weeks old.
Their life span is 15 but up to 32 years. The wide range can only be explained by inconsistencies in meeting dietary requirements of this species. They are mature at the age of 1 - 2.5 years.
Scientific Name
Trichoglossus Haematodus Haematodus
Country Of Origin
New Guinea
Size
Life Expectancy
Noise Level
Moderate
Talk / Trick Ability
Talking ability: Moderate; Trick Ability: Very good
Characteristics
The green-naped lorikeet is stunningly beautiful, with nearly every color of the rainbow represented in its feathering. They are intelligent birds that thrive when afforded plenty of play time. Although some green-naped lorikeets can be nippy at sexual maturity, overall the species responds well to behavior training and they are enjoyable pet birds. Their amazing colors make it a popular choice at zoos, where green-naped lorikeets are kept in flocks and visitors can feed nectar to the the birds.
Behavior / Health Concerns
Green-naped lorikeets are very active birds, so they need as large a cage as possible with plenty of toys to keep them occupied. Part of their diet should consist of a quality nectar. They have a tendency to squirt waste matter and because their diets contain nectar, the fairly liquid-like waste can make the surrounding area near the cage dirty. Easy-to-cleans surfaces around the pet bird cage or aviary, or an area where waste can be easily hosed off, are good pet bird housing options.
Expert Advice
“Like all lorikeets, the green-naped lorikeet requires a special diet. It is an extremely endearing and loving bird that is smaller in size than other lorikeets, and it does not share in talking abilities as much as the other lorikeets are capable of.”
Lori Hancock, CAS, AACA, Lori’s Bird Sitting Services, London, Ontario, Canada