Plum-faced lorikeet

Plum-faced lorikeet
Male with red crown and female with green crown
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Psittaciformes
Family:	Psittaculidae
Genus:	Oreopsittacus Salvadori, 1877
Species:	O. arfaki
Binomial name
Oreopsittacus arfaki (Meyer, 1874)

The plum-faced lorikeet (Oreopsittacus arfaki), also known as the whiskered lorikeet,^[2] is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is monotypic within the genus Oreopsittacus.^[2] It is found in the New Guinea Highlands.

Description[]

The plum-faced lorikeet is a mainly green small parrot about 15 cm (5.9 in) long with a long pointed tail. It has two white stripes under each eye. It has a narrow pointed black bill and dark-brown irises. The adult male has a red forehead and the adult female has a green forehead.^[2]

Taxonomy[]

The plum-faced lorikeet is the only species of the genus Oreopsittacus and it has three subspecies:^[3]

Oreopsittacus Salvadori 1877

• Oreopsittacus arfaki (Meyer, AB 1874)
  • Oreopsittacus arfaki arfaki (Meyer, AB 1874) (red-orange abdomen)
  • Oreopsittacus arfaki grandis Ogilvie-Grant 1895 (green abdomen)
  • Oreopsittacus arfaki major Ogilvie-Grant 1914 (red-orange abdomen and larger)

Range[]

The plum-faced lorikeet's native range is the mountains between about 2000 m to 3750 m of mainland New Guinea across both the Indonesian and Papua New Guinean zones of the island.^[2]

References[]

Cited texts[]

• Forshaw, Joseph M. (2006). Parrots of the World; an Identification Guide. Illustrated by Frank Knight. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09251-6.