Rainbow lorikeet without the rainbow

["Philip Veerman" <>]

Thanks Harvey & David,

 

I certainly agree it looks just like the Forshaw’s Parrots of the World (1978 2^nd edition) has a specimen that fits your picture.  It is named “Weber’s Lorikeet” So given the location (taking Flores as part of Indonesia) and that it presumably is a wild bird, surely that would be it. Beyond that, it comes down to what names are used for a complex group of related forms and which ones you decide to give a separate English name to. I agree with Harvey that it probably shouldn't be called a Rainbow Lorikeet.

 

I can't suggest anything beyond what Harvey has added from IOC list (nor should I).

 

Apart from that if this was about local forms (which is not what you asked about), these birds also hybridise easily (more so in captivity, see e.g. the range of birds in the Gungahlin aviary) so the potential is always there for odd appearance birds.

 

Philip

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Perkins, Harvey [
Sent: Tuesday, 23 October 2012 9:38 AM
To: 'David Rosalky'; 'Margaret Leggoe';
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Rainbow lorikeet without the rainbow [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]

Margaret,

 

There has been a lot of recent change around the taxonomy of Trichoglossus lorikeets. The following table is extracted from the latest (v3.2) edition of the on-line IOC list. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/ioc-lists/

 

Note that weberi is listed as a full species (Leaf Lorikeet, from Flores). The "Rainbow Lorikeet" in Australia is split into Rainbow Lorikeet (moluccanus) and Red-collared Lorikeet (rubritorquis).

 

I don't know which species your photographs are of, could be weberi as suggested by David, but may be one of the many subspecies of haemotodus, but probably shouldn't be called a Rainbow Lorikeet.

 

Harvey

 

Genus	species	subspecies	English name	Breeding range
Trichoglossus
	ornatus		Ornate Lorikeet	Sulawesi
	forsteni		Sunset Lorikeet	w Lesser Sundas
		djampeanus		Tanahjampea I.
		stresemanni		Kalaotoa I.
		mitchellii		Bali and Lombok Is.
		forsteni		Sumbawa I.
	weberi		Leaf Lorikeet	Flores
	capistratus		Marigold Lorikeet	e Lesser Sundas
		fortis		Sumba I.
		capistratus		Timor I.
		flavotectus		Wetar and Romang Is.
	haematodus		Coconut Lorikeet	s Moluccas, w New Guinea, e to Loyalty Islands
		haematodus		s Moluccas, w Papuan islands, w New Guinea
		intermedius		nc New Guinea
		nigrogularis		Kai and Aru Is., s New Guinea
		caeruleiceps		sc New Guinea
		micropteryx		ne and se New Guinea
		massena		Karkar I., Bismarck Arch., Solomon Is. and Vanuatu
		nesophilus		Ninigo and Hermit Is.  (Admiralty Is.)
		flavicans		New Hanover and the  Admiralty Is.
		deplanchii		New Caledonia and Loyalty Is.
	rosenbergii		Biak Lorikeet	Biak Island
	moluccanus		Rainbow Lorikeet	ne, se, sc Australia
		septentrionalis		Cape York Pen.  (ne Australia)
		moluccanus		ne and se Australia, Tasmania
		eyrei		se and sc South Australia, w Victoria
	rubritorquis		Red-collared Lorikeet	e Lesser Sundas to n Australia
	euteles		Olive-headed Lorikeet	Lesser Sundas
	flavoviridis		Citrine Lorikeet	Sulawesi, Sula Is.
		meyeri		Sulawesi
		flavoviridis		Sula Is.
	johnstoniae		Mindanao Lorikeet	Philippines
	rubiginosus		Pohnpei Lorikeet	e Caroline Islands
	chlorolepidotus		Scaly-breasted Lorikeet	e Australia

 

---

From: David Rosalky [
Sent: Tuesday, 23 October 2012 8:22 AM
To: 'Margaret Leggoe';
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Rainbow lorikeet without the rainbow

Margaret

 

Forshaw’s Parrots of the World (1978 2^nd edition) has a specimen that fits your picture.  It is named “Weber’s Lorikeet” and its scientific name is Trichoglossus haemotodus weberi, so a sub-species of the Rainbow Lorikeet species found only on the island of Flores.

 

David Rosalky

 

From: Margaret Leggoe [
Sent: Tuesday, 23 October 2012 7:44 AM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] Rainbow lorikeet without the rainbow

 

Dear Philip,

I recently came across photos of a bird purported to be a rainbow lorikeet from Indonesia.  It has only two colours, green and a paler greenish yellow breast.  The beak is still red.

Do you know if this bird IS a rainbow lorikeet, or an incorrectly identified other species?

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/rainbow-lorikeet-trichoglossus-haematodus/bird-perched-tree

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/rainbow-lorikeet-trichoglossus-haematodus/subspecies-endemic-sumba-sub-species-lesser-sundas-a

Cheers

Margaret Leggoe