Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several small, often brilliantly colored Australasian parrots that feed primarily on soft fruits and on nectar and pollen.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A small parrot of the genus Trichoglossus, or, in a broader use, of the subfamily Trichoglossinæ; a kind of lory.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) Any one numerous species of small brush-tongued parrots or lories, found mostly in Australia, New Guinea and the adjacent islands, with some forms in the East Indies. They are arboreal in their habits and feed largely upon the honey of flowers. They belong to Trichoglossus, Loriculus, and several allied genera.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of various small,
brightly coloured ,parrots native toAustralasia . They are usually classified in the subfamilyLoriinae .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of various small lories
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus — Rainbow lorikeet, Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, California
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Two species from Caledonia that have not been recorded reliably for many years, include the New Caledonian lorikeet (Charmosyna diadema, CR), last recorded in 1913, and the New Caledonia rail (Gallirallus lafresnayanus, CR), not reliably reported since the early 20th century.
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The rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus weberi) is a subspecies endemic to Flores island in the Wallacea Hotspot.
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All four of the island's land birds are endemic, flightless Henderson rail Nesophylax ater, Stephen's lorikeet Vini stepheni (R), Henderson fruit dove Ptilinopus insularis, and Henderson warbler Acrocephalus vaughani taiti.
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The kagu is the national bird of New Caledonia and is listed by IUCN as endangered (EN), along with the Australasian bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus), New Caledonian lorikeet (Charmosyna diadema), and New Caledonian owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles savesi).
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A noisy lorikeet, not the kind you keep as favoured pets, screeched at me because I stole a mandarin out of his tree.
In Need Of Subtle Teaching Ivan Donn Carswell 2007
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A noisy lorikeet, not the kind you keep as favoured pets, screeched at me because I stole a mandarin out of his tree.
Archive 2007-07-01 Ivan Donn Carswell 2007
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~ Exotic Parrots Return to Cook Islands -- "Two centuries after a dazzlingly feathered parrot called the Rimitara lorikeet disappeared from the Cook Islands, a breeding colony of the birds has been re-established with the help of the islands' royalty."
Speedlinking 9/27/07 William Harryman 2007
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The Vulnerable restricted-range blue lorikeet (Vini peruviana) is found on Aitutaki, and the island is delineated as a Secondary Endemic Bird Area for that reason, but it is unclear whether the species is actually native to the island.
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Aitutaki is delineated as a Secondary Endemic Bird Area because the restricted-range blue lorikeet (Vini peruviana).
chained_bear commented on the word lorikeet
I went to a theme park once that had a "lorikeet glen." You could shell out $2 for a tiny soufflé cup filled with liquid lorikeet chow, then walk into the "glen," and they'd mob you. I mean mob you. Then as soon as the chow was gone they'd fly on to the next sucker. But it was pretty cool. In a scary way.
October 10, 2008
reesetee commented on the word lorikeet
They are cool birds.
October 13, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word lorikeet
Usage on brolga.
April 18, 2009
milosrdenstvi commented on the word lorikeet
Amusing example:
" To my lorikeet, Buttons, I leave the remaining sum total of all assets in my estate, real and liquid, including cash, securities, land, fine art, jewelry, gold, and McDonald's Monopoly game pieces, because that's the kind of crazy thing that wealthy, mean-spirited old lunatics like me really enjoy."
December 22, 2009