Pohnpei Lorikeet

Pohnpei Lorikeet
In Pohnpei, Micronesia
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Tribe: Lorini
Genus: Trichoglossus
Species: T. rubiginosus
Binomial name
Trichoglossus rubiginosus
(Bonaparte, 1850)

The Pohnpei Lorikeet (Trichoglossus rubiginosus) is a monotypic species of parrot in the Psittacidae family. It is endemic to the island of Pohnpei and the nearby Ahnd Atoll in Micronesia. Historically the species also occurred on Namoluk Atoll near Chuuk, and the species may once have had a wider distribution throughout Micronesia than it does today.[2]

Contents

Description

The Pohnpei Lorikeet is 24 cm long and weights around 80 g. The plumage is mainly reddish-maroon with vague approximately transverse striations of darker maroon. The head a slightly darker maroon. The flight feathers and tail are olive-yellow. Its legs are grey. The male has an orange beak and yellow-orange irises, while the female has a yellow beak and light grey irises. The juveniles have brown beaks and brown irises.[3]

Habitat and behaviour

Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests and plantations. The diet is composed of nectar and pollen from coconuts and also fruit and insect larvae. It nests in a hole in a tree, laying a single egg. The species is common and not considered threatened.

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2004). Trichoglossus rubiginosus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 24 July 2007.
  2. ^ Steadman D, (2006). Extinction and Biogeography in Tropical Pacific Birds, University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-77142-7
  3. ^ Forshaw (2006). plate 13.

Cited Texts