Varied Lorikeet
Psitteuteles versicolor· 鹦鹉科(4 photos)
Photographed In:
Varied Lorikeet
17-20 cm. Softly but gorgeously coloured small tropical lorikeet: pale green, with deep-scarlet cap; white 'goggles'; lime-green ear patch and pink breast, with plentiful fine, lime-green streaks. Female: duller, with olive-green crown. Immature: dull green; pink on forehead. Pairs, parties, small flocks: quieter than other lorikeets. Flight very swift, showing pale green wing linings. Gathers in flowering eucalypts and paperbarks; scarlet crowns prominent when hanging to feed; ventures far over grasslands to feed on blossoms of isolated trees such as 'kapok', Cochlospermum sp.
- Voice
- thin rolling screech, less strident than Rainbow or 'Red-collared Lorikeet'.
- Habitat
- tropical eucalypt, paperbark woodlands; flowering trees on foothills and coastal plains; trees on watercourses and in grasslands.
- Breeding
- April-Aug.
- Nest
- on decayed debris or fragmented eucalypt leaves; in tree-hollow.
- Eggs
- 2-4; white, oval.
- Range & Status
- tropical n. Aust., and coastal islands, from Kimberley (WA), Top End (NT), e. to n.- c. Q and w. C. York Pen.; exceptionally e. to Atherton region (ne. Q); good seasons inland cause irregular inland movements to Channel Country of sw. Q and elsewhere. Common Top End, incl. around Darwin (NT) and Kimberley (WA); less common Q. Nomadic, irregular.
