The Iris Lorikeet, Psitteuteles iris is a small, up to 20 cm long, green lorikeet. The male has a red forehead, yellow nape, purple band back from eye between nape and cheek, and yellowish below. The female almost similar with red-marked green forecrown and yellowish green cheek.

The Iris Lorikeet is distributed in the forests and woodlands on the islands of Wetar

Wetar

The tropical island of Wetar belongs to the Indonesian province of Maluku and is the largest island of the Barat Daya Islands . It lies east of the Lesser Sunda Islands, which include nearby Alor and Timor, but it is politically part of the Maluku Islands...

 and Timor

Timor

Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...

 in the Lesser Sundas

Lesser Sunda Islands

The Lesser Sunda Islands or Nusa Tenggara are a group of islands in the southern Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up the Sunda Islands...

. It is found from sea level to altitude of 1,500m. The Iris Lorikeet is usually found in small flocks.

Due to ongoing habitat loss, limited range and illegal trapping for the caged-bird trade, the Iris Lorikeet is evaluated as Near Threatened on IUCN Red List

IUCN Red List

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...

 of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.

Taxonomy

There are two or three poorly differentiated subspecies:

• T.i iris (West Timor) -
• T.i. wetterensis (Wetar) - larger area of darker green on side of head.
• T.i. rubripileum (East Timor) - hindcrown also red, violet-blue band on hindneck.

Description

The Iris Lorikeet is 20 cm (8 in) long. It is mostly green with pale-green transverse striations on its underside. The head is red above the eye and there is a purple band from the eyes extending over the ears. The beak is red-orange, the iris is orange, and the legs are bluish-grey. The male and female are almost identical, but the red on the head of the female is paler and less extensive. Juveniles resemble females, but have a brownish bill, brown irises, duller purple bands and less red on the head. The extent and shade of the red and purple on the head varies between two or three subspecies.

External links

• BirdLife Species Factsheet
• IUCN Red List
• Oriental Bird Images: Iris Lorikeet Selected photos