Hand Fed Swainson's Rainbow Lorikeet - Trichoglossus moluccanus

These specialty pet birds are all bred in Canada by caring aviculturists.

Noise Level & Vocalization

Usually chirps and chitters, commonly mimic sounds and noises they have heard and grew fond of. They are capable of being quite loud and can produce a short, high-pitched squawk. This is not a noise they make frequently, though. Speech capabilities are somewhat limited, but these birds can certainly learn how to talk. 

Physical Features

They call them rainbow lorikeets for a reason! These birds have a bright orange beak and metallic, violet-blue head that transitions to their green back with a limey nape. The breast is bright yellow, orange, and red with a deep, indigo blue belly. The underside of the tail is yellowish, and the green pantaloons in some specimens may have orange, red, or blue speckling. The full ROYGBIV of the beautiful weather phenomenon. The iris on mature individuals is orangey red.

Young birds have similar but somewhat duller colouring to their parents. The beak is brown-grey instead of orange, the iris is dark, and the head may be partly black.

A feature that few people aside from those who own lories get to see first hand is the unique tongue! Lories and lorikeets evolved a "brush-tip" on their tongue to aid them in eating nectar and pollen; a large part of their diet in the wild.

Pet Profile

If playful, energetic, and sassy is what you're looking for then this may be a bird to consider! If a can of redbull had feathers, this would be it. Rainbow lorikeets are fun, hilarious, and loving birds. They can be testy, especially if measures aren't being taken to prevent hormonal behaviour. Generally these birds are not recommended to people who are new to birds. The commitment to ownership is a little bit more involved than some other types of birds. The waste produced by these birds does tend to be messier than what many parrots produce, however, this is also largely affected by what the bird is eating.  

Diet

Lorikeets require a specialized diet, and their health will decline rapidly if fed a "standard parrot" diet for any length of time. These birds evolved specific digestive systems that are not meant to process and digest "hard" food items like seeds. They do well eating specially formulated powder diets, lory nectars, lory-specific pellets, and fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers*. It is best to use sweet fruits as treats, since seeds and nuts should not be given to lories. These birds do have a tendency of developing iron storage disease if proper consideration is not given to the iron content in their foods.

*not all flowers are safe to feed, always check with reliable sources

Housing

These are very active and energetic birds. They will use as much space as you can provide them. Toys and perches should be made of materials that can easily be cleaned. Lorikeets love mechanical toys with lots of moving parts and different textures. 

Breeding Information

Wild Status

Decreasing - Least Concern
Last assessed October 2016 for the IUCN Red List.