Status: Rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus) are a controlled animal under the
Nature Conservation Act 2002. Importation is prohibited in Tasmania.
Risk Assessment:
Pest Risk Assessment Rainbow Lorikeet
Identifying Features
Rainbow Lorikeet
© Jennie Stock, Courtesy of IA CRC
Rainbow lorikeets are approximately 30 cm long with a 45 cm wingspan. They are brightly coloured with a blue head (which distinguishes them from other Tasmanian parrots), green wings, tail and back, and an orange-yellow breast.
Juveniles are generally duller than adults, with a much duller brownish-orange bill. Rainbow lorikeets have a swift, direct flight with rapid whirring wing beats and display flashes of dark green and bright red. They screech continuously while in flight, when at food sources and at roost sites.
Rainbow lorikeets are often seen in loud and fast-moving flocks, or in communal roosts at dusk. In flight, they appear slim, with angular backswept and finely pointed wings combining with a long tail (held tightly folded and tapering to a fine point) to give a distinctive rakish silhouette.
History
The rainbow lorikeet is regarded as either a pest of agriculture or an unwanted organism in New Zealand, Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.
Rainbow lorikeets are highly mobile, have generalised feeding and breeding requirements and can quickly adapt to exploit new feeding and breeding resources. They have taken advantage of the year-round supply of native and exotic food plants available in Australia's major cities and are expanding in number and distribution in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth.
Distribution
The rainbow lorikeet has a native range that includes south and east Indonesia, east through New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and the north and east of Australia. In Australia, the rainbow lorikeet occurs from northern Queensland and along the east coast to Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.
The rainbow lorikeet is not native to Tasmania. There are small, self-sustaining populations in several areas of the state, including greater Hobart, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie. Occasional vagrants may arrive from mainland Australia, but the sedentary nature of the species and the distribution of its populations within Tasmania suggest aviary escapes are the predominant origin.
View recorded distribution information in
Natural Values AtlasView recorded information in the
Atlas of Living Australia
Environmental Impacts
Rainbow lorikeets are a threat to native Tasmanian parrots and would compete with the musk lorikeet, the EPBC-listed swift parrot and green rosella, for food and resources.
They also pose a potential disease risk as they are carriers of Psittacine beak and feather disease.
Assessing the impact of the rainbow lorikeet on commercial crops is difficult because the damage caused by birds in orchards is rarely quantified. However, lorikeets are a serious pest of cherries, apples, pears and stone fruit and a very serious pest of grapes in Australia. Rainbow lorikeets have the potential for high impact on Tasmania's agricultural industries.
Reproduction
Rainbow lorikeets reach sexual maturity after two years and a pair of rainbow lorikeets can produce up to three broods of two eggs in a season. The breeding season varies widely between regions, depending on climate and resource availability, but generally occurs from August to January in southern Australia.
The female incubates eggs for 23 days and is fed by the male in the morning and evening. Fledglings leave the nest at around 45 days and the parents continue to feed the young for a period of two to three weeks after fledging. After breeding, rainbow lorikeets congregate in large flocks.
Control
Biosecurity Tasmania is currently undertaking a data collection and monitoring program for rainbow lorikeet across the State to better understand its abundance, distribution and impacts. A trapping program is currently being trialled in the south.
Reporting
Useful information includes numbers, location and activity (e.g. what plant species were they feeding on, were they seen at a bird feeder, flying over, at a nest hollow, or roosting for the evening).
Public reports are recorded on the Invasive Species Branch database. A Biosecurity Tasmania officer may contact you for more details, depending on the nature of the sighting.
Did you know?
Lorikeets are high flying birds and will rarely be seen on the ground. They spend most of their time in the outer foliage of tall trees.
Further Information
PestSmart Connect
is a toolkit of information on best-practice management for several key vertebrate pest species including rabbits,
foxes, feral pigs and feral cats.
Rainbow lorikeet factsheet (476 KB)
Pest Risk Assessment Rainbow Lorikeet
See also:
Indian myna
See other invasive species:
Mammals |
Freshwater species |
Other species