Blue-crowned lorikeet
The blue-crowned lorikeet (Vini australis), also known as the blue-crowned lory, blue-crested lory, Solomon lory or Samoan lory, is a parrot found throughout the Lau Islands (Fiji), Tonga, Samoa, Niue and adjacent islands, including: ʻAlofi, Fotuhaʻa, Fulago, Futuna, Haʻafeva, Niuafoʻou, Moce, Niue, Ofu, Olosega, Samoa, Savaiʻi, Tafahi, Taʻu, Tofua, Tonga, Tungua, ʻUiha, ʻUpolu, Varoa, Vavaʻu, and Voleva. It is a 19 cm green lorikeet with a red throat, blue crown, and belly patch shading from red at the top to purple at the bottom.
| Blue-crowned lorikeet | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Psittaciformes |
| Family: | Psittaculidae |
| Genus: | Vini |
| Species: | V. australis |
| Binomial name | |
| Vini australis (Gmelin, JF, 1788) | |
Taxonomy
The blue-crowned lorikeet was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other parrots in the genus Psittacus and coined the binomial name Psittacus australis.[2] Gmelin based his description on the "Blue crested parrakeet" that had been described in 1781 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham believed that his specimen had come from Hawaii (Sandwich Islands) but this was an error; the specimen had come from the Samoan Islands.[3][4] The blue-crowned lorikeet is now placed in the genus Vini that was introduced in 1833 by the French naturalist René Lesson.[5] The genus name is the Tahitian word for a local bird.[5][6][7]
It is still common, but declining on some islands, apparently from predation by rats. They frequent areas with flowering trees, including coconut plantations and gardens, usually in small flocks of less than about 15 individuals or in pairs during breeding season. It eats nectar, pollen and soft fruits, especially wild hibiscus and coconut. The blue-crowned lory nests in holes in trees, but may also dig burrows in earth banks.
References
- BirdLife International (2016). "Vini australis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22684627A93037993. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22684627A93037993.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1788). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer.
- Latham, John (1781–1785). A General Synopsis of Birds. Vol. 1, Part 1. London: Printed for Benj. White. p. 315, No. 121.
- Peters, James Lee, ed. (1937). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 3. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 156.
- Lesson, René P. (1833). Illustrations de zoologie, ou, Recueil de figures d'animaux peintes d'après nature (in French). Paris: Arthus Bertrand. Plate 28 and text, livraison 10. For the publication date see: Dickinson, E.C.; Overstreet, L.K.; Dowsett, R.J.; Bruce, M.D. (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers. Northampton, UK: Aves Press. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-9568611-1-5.
- [Davies, John] (1851). "Vini". A Tahitian and English Dictionary. Tahiti: London Missionary Society's Press. p. 314.
the name of a small paroquet
- Wahlroos, Sven (2002). "Vini". English-Tahitian Tahitian-English Dictionary. Honolulu: Māʻohi Heritage Press. p. 684.
(1) Tahiti parakeet; (2) small birds of various species imported to Tahiti
Further reading
- Juniper & Parr (1998) Parrots: A Guide to Parrots of the World; ISBN 0-300-07453-0.
- Forshaw (2006) Parrots of the World: An Identification Guide; ISBN 0-691-09251-6.