Aust birds    Bird names   News   1-26    Habitats    Key plants    Glossary    Plumage    Nests    Tips    Thumbnails    Gen. info    Sponsors    Photos for sale   
NON-PASSERINES     1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10     11     12     13     14 15     16     17     18     19     20     21     22     23     24     25     26     PASSERINES
Common names sorted alphabetically: A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   W   Y  

12

Varied Lorikeet

(Psitteuteles versicolor)
< Alternate name(s): "Red-capped Lorikeet"
Aboriginal name(s): "wero"

Size: 18-20 cm
Weight: 50-60 g
Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Varied Lorikeet at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

ADULT

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]

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.