A strikingly coloured parrot, often now frequenting urban areas. It is difficult to miss the bright red chest, head & belly of the male birds, missing in the females & immature birds, these having a brownish-green colour with only the lower breast scarlet in the female. Also known by the common name "King Lory".
Bird Size - 43cm
Food - Seeds, native & cultivated fruits & berries
Nest style - Tree hollow
Material used - Nil
Nest Site - Tree hollow with the entrance ten to twenty metres above the ground, the actual nest site often being quite a distance down into the hollow, sometimes seven metres down. Preferred sites are in dense forest and seldom far from water.
Breeding Season & Details - September to January, with three to six eggs laid once a year.
Habits - Naturally inhabiting rainforests & it's edges in highland regions, dispersing to lowlands in autumn-winter. In pairs or small flocks, generally prefers high open perches, from which it gives a high piping call, not unlike the Pied Butcherbird, but shriller. Upon taking off and in flight it gives harsh "chrack" repeated at intervals.