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Varied Lorikeet (Psitteuteles versicolor) < Alternate name(s): "Red-capped Lorikeet" Aboriginal name(s): "wero" Size: 17-20 cm Body mass: 50-62 g

Australia: Family Group 12 Family Group 12 Table Palm Cockatoo Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo Glossy Black-Cockatoo Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Short-billed Black-Cockatoo Long-billed Black-Cockatoo Gang-gang Cockatoo Long-billed Corella Western Corella Little Corella Cockatiel Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Pink Cockatoo Galah Rainbow Lorikeet Red-collared Lorikeet Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Purple-crowned Lorikeet Varied Lorikeet Musk Lorikeet Little Lorikeet Eclectus Parrot Red-cheeked Parrot Double-eyed Fig-Parrot Australian King-Parrot Red-winged Parrot Princess Parrot Superb Parrot Regent Parrot Green Rosella Crimson Rosella Western Rosella Eastern Rosella Pale-headed Rosella Northern Rosella Red-capped Parrot Australian Ringneck Red-rumped Parrot Mulga Parrot Golden-shouldered Parrot Hooded Parrot Blue Bonnet Bourke's Parrot Budgerigar Swift Parrot Eastern Ground Parrot Night Parrot Blue-winged Parrot Scarlet-chested Parrot Rock Parrot Turquoise Parrot Elegant Parrot Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Thumbnails page Birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Varied Lorikeets are small lorikeets. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are slightly different. Both sexes have a bright-red frons, lores and cap, which touches the white eye-rings, behind which there is a light-yellow ear patch. The rest of the head is dark-green. Like the rest of the body plumage, it is streaked light-yellow. The throat is dark-green, the chest pinkish, the belly and vent light-green. The upperwings are light-green, the tail is green (without scalloping). The underwings have green coverts and dark-brown flight feathers. The cere is grey, the bill is bright orange, while the irises are black and the legs and feet are dark-grey. Male Varied Lorikeets have an all-red cap and a clearly visible mauve-pink base colour on the breast. In females red on the cap does not reach as far back towards the nape of the neck and the mauve-pink wash on the chest is reduced. In juveniles only the front half of the cap is red, while the back is green. They have no mauve-pink wash on the breast and their bill is horn-coloured.

Taxonomy, classification See Varied Lorikeet at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Varied Lorikeet is available HERE . Varied Lorikeets are endemic to northern Australia. They populate only the tropical North of the continent, from most of the Kimberley, WA, via the Top End of the NT, towards the southern tip of the Gulf of Carpentaria, QLD, where their range extends southward to Mt. Isa and western inland QLD. In parts of that range and also on Cape York peninsula they are seen only occasionally. Varied Lorikeets have a preference for open forest and monsoon woodland, especially along water courses, and also swamps.

Sightings Click here for sighting information B. Hensen reports spotting Varied Lorikeets at Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, in March 2013 and along the Marrakai track, NT, in August 2013 and - together with P. Brown - along Bird Billabong Road, near the Arnhem Highway, NT, in July 2018. We spotted Varied Lorikeets at Lake Copperfield, near Pine Creek, NT, in August 2014. P. Brown reports finding a Varied Lorikeet at Manton Dam, near Darwin, NT, in September 2019. M. Eaton spotted a Varied Lorikeet in the township of Mount Isa, QLD, in July 2021.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

Many bird species exhibit sexual dimorphism, i.e., male and female have differing appearances which can be quite subtle.
Male Varied Lorikeets, left have a more pronounced mauve-pink wash reaching further down their chest and more blue on their hindneck than females. In males the red of the crown also wraps further downward, around the front of the eyes.

MALE

Frontal view of a male Varied Lorikeet in a Woolibutt tree; note the pronounced mauve-pink breast
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bird Billabong Road, near Arnhem Highway, NT, July 2018]

Lateral view of a (probably male) Varied Lorikeet (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, March 2013]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female Varied Lorikeet (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Frontal view of a female Varied Lorikeet (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Frontal/ventral view of a female Varied Lorikeet in a Woolibutt tree (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Marrakai track, NT, August 2013]

Near-lateral view of a female Varied Lorikeet; note the scarcity of mauve-pink on the breast (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Lateral view of a female Varied Lorikeet (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Lateral view of a female Varied Lorikeet doing a split (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Lateral view of a female Varied Lorikeet feeding head-down (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Lateral/ventral view of a female Varied Lorikeet (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a female Varied Lorikeet (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

PAIR

Near-frontal view of two Varied Lorikeets in a Woolibutt tree; the bird on the left, with the extended mauve chest, is a male, the one on the right is a female (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Marrakai track, NT, August 2013]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a juvenile Varied Lorikeet in a Woolibutt tree; note the small area of red on the forehead, the lack of a mauve-pink chest patch and the horn-coloured bill (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Bird Billabong Road, near Arnhem Highway, NT, July 2018]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a juvenile Varied Lorikeet in a Woolibutt tree; (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Bird Billabong Road, near Arnhem Highway, NT, July 2018]

Juvenile Varied Lorikeet licking nectar from the flowers of a Woolibutt tree (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Bird Billabong Road, near Arnhem Highway, NT, July 2018]

Juvenile Varied Lorikeet licking nectar from a flower; the all-green head and front of this bird suggest that it is still very young (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Manton Dam, near Darwin, NT, September 2019]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal

Mobility: Nomadic/dispersive

Elementary unit: Pair/flock

Food, Diet

Male Varied Lorikeet feeding on the nectar of Woolibutt flowers (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bird Billabong Road, near Arnhem Highway, NT, July 2018]

Female Varied Lorikeet feeding on nectar in a paperbark tree (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, March 2013]

Distant view of a female Varied Lorikeet feeding on Lysiphyllum cunninghamii (photo courtesy of R. Russell)

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

varlori_20140818_3.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Contact calls	© MD
varlori_pb_20180708_3.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Contact calls	© PB
varlori_pb_20180708_2.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Squabbling	© PB
varlori_20140818.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Mob departing	© MD
varlori_pb_20180708.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Feeding calls?	© PB
varlori_20140818_2.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Adult with begging juveniles	© MD
varlori_pb_20180708_5.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Various	© PB

More Varied Lorikeet sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.