27/08/2026
Another project I am working on is the International Lory and Lorikeet Society .. soon I will have lorikeets on the outreach team to further education on these birds and the curriculum topics they can be linked to 🦜 The most notable current topic on lorikeets is the rediscovery of the blue fronted lorikeet - sighted in April of this year. The last 2 sightings before that were 2014, and the 1920s 😱 we weren’t sure if they still existed! Now a huge focus from local organisations to maintain their safety 💙
“Rainbow lorikeets”
There are currently 22 recognised 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘴 species, some with recognised subspecies; giving a total of 43 taxa!
“Rainbow lorikeets” are included in this genus, but did you know the term “Rainbow lorikeet” is often incorrectly used to describe multiple separate species.
AviList, the most up-to-date taxonomic reference for current bird taxonomy, currently recognises 4 distinct species which visually fit the “rainbow lorikeet” umbrella.
Detailed species spotlights on each of these species and their subspecies to follow! It’s important from hobbyist to professional aviculturist to ensure we are identifying species correctly, to maintain pure genetics when breeding and avoid hybridisation.
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The IUCN Red List is a global assessment database developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, to establish the status of each species in the wild. Categories are as follows:
LC - Least Concern
NT - Near Threatened
VU - Vulnerable
EN - Endangered
CR - Critically Endangered
EW - Extinct in the wild
EX - Extinct
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Taxonomy
Genus and species are ranks used by scientists to describe every species on Earth. These are the last two categories in the process of narrowing down an animal.
Genus - a closely related group of organisms
Species - the exact type of organism
Subspecies - a subdivision of a species, often due to animals living in different areas evolving slightly different traits over time. Not all species have subspecies!
For example,
𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘴 (genus), 𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘴 (species); we know this is a Swainson’s lorikeet. The third word, 𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘴 or 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴, tells us which subspecies. Identifying this can be tricky; in the wild this is often established by the location of the sighting!
