Genus Loriculus Phylum Chordata Rank Species | Superfamily Psittacoidea Subfamily Agapornithinae Scientific name Loriculus beryllinus Order Parrot | |
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Similar Layard's parakeet, Hanging parrot, Bird, Parrot, Moluccan hanging parrot | ||
The Sri Lanka hanging parrot (Loriculus beryllinus) is a small parrot which is a resident endemic breeder in Sri Lanka.
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Description
The Sri Lanka hanging parrot is a small, mainly green hanging parrot, only 13 cm long with a short tail. The adult has a red crown and rump. The nape and back have on orange tint. The chin and throat are pale blue. The beak is red and the irises are white.
Immature birds lack the orange hue to the back, have a duller rump, and have only a hint of orange on the crown. They have a faint blue throat. They have orange beaks and brown irises.
Behaviour
Sri Lanka hanging parrot is less gregarious than some of its relatives, and is usually alone or in small groups outside the breeding season. Its flight is swift and direct, and the call is a sharp whistled twiwittwit..twitwitwit. It undergoes local movements, driven mainly by the availability of the fruit, seeds, buds and blossoms that make up its diet.
Sri Lanka hanging parrot is a bird of open forest. It is strictly arboreal, never descending to the ground. It nests in holes in trees, laying 2–3 eggs.
In culture
In Sri Lanka, this bird is known as Gira Maliththa - ගිරාමලිත්තා or Pol Girwa - පොල් ගිරවා in Sinhala language. Hanging parrot appears in a 15c Sri Lankan postal stamp,