Abstract
Lories and lorikeets are small to the
medium sized parrots whose brushshaped
tongues are uniquely adapted to
feeding on nectar and pollen. Birds of
the genus Trichoglossus have long been
popular as aviary birds but have presented
taxonomic problems because of
their wide distribution and the close
resemblance of some forms. As a group
these Rainbow lories, as they are sometimes
called, are distributed among many
of the Indonesian islands, east through
New Guinea and the adjacent islands to
the Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, New
Caledonia and the Royal Islands, and
along northern and eastern Australia,
including Tasmania. Currently there are
twenty or twenty-one recognized subspecies
of Trichoglossus haematodus,
although in the literature there has been
some argument as to the validity of
some of these subspecies. (See, for
example, Rosemary Low's article in the
Nov/Dec 1974 and- B. Sayers, April/
June 1975 issues of Aviculture Magazine.)
Some aviculturists and authors
choose to drop the scientific name,
haematodus, and refer to the Rainbow
lories only by their subspecific name.
Thus, Swainson's or Blue Mountain
lorikeet, Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus
is sometimes seen as simply
Trichoglossus moluccanus.