Scaly Breasted Lorikeet:

The scaly breasted lorikeet is a bird species that is primarily found in the woodland regions of Western Australia and is usually an overall green color with the feathers on the chest and shoulders edges in yellow – thereby giving it a scaly appearance.



Although both, males and females will have a blue tinge on the head, this trait will be more prominent in the males. Some other of the other identification traits includes a green tail with a yellow underbelly and a red under wing. The younger birds have a light orange beak and a light grey ring around the eye that will slowly develop into an orange ring as they continue to age.



Also known as the green or gold lorikeet, the bird measures about 23 centimeters and weights roughly 75 to 80 grams. The scaly breasted lorikeets prefer their habitat to be an open forest and will usually travel in large flocks from tree to tree accompanied by a few Rainbow Lorikeets. These two varieties of bird will usually congregate at their favored roosting sites at certain times of the year.



It is not uncommon for the thousands of these birds to converge in a single large tree and create a rather noisy ruckus.

The diet of scaly breasted lorikeets consist mainly of nectar and pollen of the flowering trees and shrubs along with a variety of fruits and seeds. You are likely to see the birds almost throughout the year except in the months of March and April. Towards the south, they tend to breed between August and January. They will nest in a hollow tree, at a considerable height from the ground and with a layer of wood at the bottom. The females will, on an average lay about 2 eggs for which the incubation period will last for about 25 days. Although the males will spend some time in the nest, they do not help out in the incubation of the eggs.

The scaly breasted lorikeet are a common pet around the areas they are abundantly found. When choosing to house a scaly breasted lorikeet as pet, however, it is important to keep in mind that they tend to be rather messy, which could indicate an increase in the amount of housecleaning. When in captivity as a pet, the bird should be fed good quality home made or commercial nectar. Also keep in mind that the nectar will need to be replaced a few times over the course of the day, even more so in the warm, summer months.