Swift Parrot
Also known as:
Swift Lorikeet, Swift-flying Parakeet or Lorikeet, Red-faced Parrot or Parakeet, Red-shouldered Parrot or Parakeet
Also known as:
Swift Lorikeet, Swift-flying Parakeet or Lorikeet, Red-faced Parrot or Parakeet, Red-shouldered Parrot or Parakeet
DID YOU KNOW?
The Swift Parrot is such a voracious feeder that there are reports of birds’ plumages becoming completely matted with nectar.
Size:
25 cm (9.75 in)
Weight:
46-76 g (1.6-2.7 oz)
Subspecies including nominate:
one
Colour Adult:
Male-in general green; face red bordered with yellow; dull red undertail coverts; dark red underwing coverts, bend of wing, and lesser wing coverts; tertial feathers on inner webs tipped with red; dull brown/red tail tipped with dark blue; varying underwing stripe. Beak brown/white. Eye orange/yellow. Female-in general duller than male; red on face less than in male, and bisected by yellow lores; varying underwing stripe.
Colour Juvenile:
In general duller than adult female; dull yellow undertail coverts wash with pale pink/red; underwing stripe white. Beak brown. Eye brown.
Call:
Calls are described as sharp and penetrating notes repeated up to 20 or 30 times in 10 seconds. While feeding emits soft, chirruping notes and a series of muscial, warbling notes from the males.
Content Sources:
CITES
BirdLife International
Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Birds of the World
Parrots: A Guide to Parrots of the World, Juniper and Parr, 1998
Parrots: Status Survey and Conservation Plan 2000-2004, Snyder, McGowan, Gilardi and Grajal, 2000.
Parrots of the World, Forshaw and Cooper, 1977. 2010 edition
Vanished and Vanishing Parrots, Forshaw, 2017.
Lexicon of Parrots, Thomas Arndt.
Parrots of the World, Forshaw, 2006.
Parrots in Aviculture, Low, 1992.
Captive Status:
Uncommon.
Longevity:
15 yrs
Housing:
Walk-in enclosure, minimum length 3 m (9.8 ft).
Diet:
Limited small seed mix such as: canary, oats, safflower and a little hemp; spray millet; limited sunflower seed, dry, soaked or sprouted; sprouted pulses such as mung beans, cooked butterbeans and lentils; boiled maize; green leaves such as: Swiss chard, lettuce, sowthistle, dandelion, chickweed; vegetables such as: corn, carrot, celery, zucchini and other squash, green beans and peas in the pod; fruit such as: apple, pear, orange, cactus fruit, banana, pomegranate; nuts such as: lightly cracked hazelnuts, pecans and roasted peanuts; nectar daily soaked in sponge cake or wholegrain bread.
Enrichment:
Very active parrot so provide space and lots of branches, swings, ropes, different sized perches and ladders for climbing. Also provide lots of unsprayed, birdsafe flowering branches. Also enjoys bathing so provide overhead misters or shallow water bowls. Can be housed with others of its own species and other birds. Also provide foraging/puzzle toys and wooden and vegetable tanned leather chewable toys.
Nest Box Size:
Vertical box 7″ x 7″ x 14″ (17.8 cm x 17.8 cm x 35.5 cm).
Clutch Size:
4-6
Fledging Age:
6 weeks
Hatch Weight:
—
Peak Weight:
—
Weaning Weight:
—
World Population:
About 2000 mature individuals (2011), decreasing rapidly.
IUCN Red List Status:
Critically Endangered
CITES Listing:
Appendix II
Threat Summary:
In Tasmania, this species is affected by the clearing of Eucalyptus globulus and box-ironbark trees for agriculture, urban development, timber, sawlog production and wood chips. Also suffers high predation from sugar gliders; nestlings and adults are taken, with mortality rates for breeding females at 51%. On mainland Australia, clearance of trees for agriculture and residential development has destroyed most habitat. An updated population model in 2022 predicted a 92.3% population decline over three generations (11 years).
Range:
SE Australia; breeds only in Tasmania, wintering in SE Queensland and E New South Wales to S Victoria and SE South Australia.
Habitat:
Found up to 1500 m (4920 ft) in forest, Eucalyptus woodland, towns, grassland, open country with flowering trees and dry sclerophyll forest breeding habitat.
Wild Diet:
Feeds on pollen and nectar, especially from Eucalyptus blossoms E. sideroxylon, E. leucoxylon, E. albens, E. ovata, and E. viminalis, but also Banksia and Xanthorrhoea flowers, psyllid lerps, insect larvae, fruit, berries, and some grass seeds.
Ecology and Behaviour:
Occur in mixed flocks with Rainbow Lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus). Noisy and active, darting in and about trees before settling to forage. Comes to the ground only to drink. Very vocal before nighttime roost. Flocking behaviour is strong, even during the breeding season.
Clutch and Egg Size:
4-6 broadly elliptical eggs, 24.5 x 20.0 mm (0.9 x 0.8 in).
Breeding Season:
October-January. Nest is high up in tree cavity; noted once in crevice in wall. Will nest semi-colonially.
