Lorius Explained

Lorius is a genus of lory in the parrot family Psittaculidae. The genus contains six species that are distributed from the Moluccas in Indonesia through New Guinea to the Solomon Islands. They have characteristic red plumage with varying amounts of blue (and in some yellow and white), green wings, and in all but one species a black crown. The bills are orange and the feet are grey. With lengths of up to 25to and average weights of 132to, the members of this genus tend to be the largest of the Loriinae subfamily.^{[1] [2]}

Taxonomy

The genus Lorius was introduced in 1825 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors with the purple-naped lory as the type species.^[3] The word "lory" comes from the Malay lūri, a name used for a number of species of colourful parrots.^[4] The word was used by the Dutch writer Johan Nieuhof in 1682 in a book describing his travels in the East Indies.^[5] The spelling "laurey" was used by English naturalist Eleazar Albin in 1731 for a species of parrot from Brazil,^[6] and then in 1751 the English naturalist George Edwards used the spelling "lory" when introducing names for five species of parrot from the East Indies in the fourth volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Edwards credited Nieuhof for the name.^[7]

Species

The genus contains six species.^[8]

Further reading

• Book: Forshaw, Joseph M. . Joseph Forshaw . Parrots of the World; an Identification Guide . . . 0-691-09251-6 . 2006 . registration .

Notes and References

1. Book: CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses . 2nd . John B. Jr. . Dunning . CRC Press . 2008 . 978-1-4200-6444-5.
2. Bates, H. J., Busenbark, R. L., & Vriends, M. M. (1978). Parrots and related bird. TFH Publications.
3. Vigors . Nicholas Aylward . Nicholas Aylward Vigors . 1825 . On the arrangement of the genera of birds . Zoological Journal . 2 . 391–405 [400] .
4. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 231 .
5. Book: Nieuhof, Johan . Johan Nieuhof . Zee en lant-reize, door verscheide gewesten van Oostindien : behelzende veele zeltzaame en wonderlijke voorvallen en geschiedenissen. Beneffens een beschrijving van lantschappen, steden, dieren, gewassen, draghten, zeden en godsdienst der inwoonders en inzonderheit een wijtloopig verhael der stad Batavia . 1682 . Dutch . Amsterdam . Jacob van Meurs . 287 .
6. Book: Albin . Eleazar . Eleazar Albin . Derham . William . William Derham . 1731 . A Natural History of Birds : Illustrated with a Hundred and One Copper Plates, Curiously Engraven from the Life . 1 . 13, Plate 13. London . Printed for the author and sold by William Innys .
7. Book: Edwards, George . George Edwards (naturalist) . 1751 . A Natural History of Uncommon Birds . London . Printed for the author at the College of Physicians . Part 4 . 170–174 .
8. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . July 2021 . Parrots, cockatoos . IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 24 July 2021 .