The Rainbow Lorikeet
Scientific name: Trichoglossus moluccanus
Indigenous name: kalingar (Tjapwurrung)
Size: 25–30 cm
Diet: Fruit, pollen, nectar
Lifespan: 10–15 years in the wild, up to 30 in captivity
If you’ve spent time outdoors, you’ve heard them before you’ve seen them. Rainbow Lorikeets travel in noisy flocks, screeching through flowering gums at dawn and dusk, hanging upside down to reach the nectar.
They’re one of the most recognisable birds in Australia — six colours stacked on one small body. Blue head, green wings, orange chest, yellow flanks. Nothing subtle about them.
They mate for life, nest in tree hollows, and have a brush-tipped tongue evolved specifically for lapping up pollen and nectar. They’re also famously cheeky — known to raid fruit bowls, steal chips off café tables, and demonstrate considerable patience while waiting for someone to leave their meal unattended.
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