Cardinal Lory Chalcopsitta
cardinalis By
Matt Schmit
Found in the mangroves, lowland and secondary forests of the Solomon Islands,
the Cardinal Lory is fairly common in the wild and abundant throughout most
of its range. It is listed on CITES
II and is considered a Birdlife International
"restricted-range" species, which means that, while the species is abundant
in numbers, the range of the species is limited and could be easily threatened.
The Cardinal Lory is a bright red bird with darker red coloring on the back
and wings. Its beak is reddish orange and the skin around the eyes and
feet are gray. The Cardinal Lory is about 11 ½ to 12 inches long (30-31 cm)
and weighs about 173-215 grams. In the wild, Cardinal Lories generally feed
on the fruit-bearing trees Elaeocarpus
species and Syzygium
species, preferring species of trees with red flowers.
The Cardinal Lory was virtually unknown in aviculture, outside of the Solomon
Islands, until 1989 when the Solomon Island government first permitted commercial
export of its birds. During the next few years, limited numbers of Cardinal
Lories were brought into the United States. After the passing of the
Wild Bird Conservation Act in 1992, importation of the Cardinal Lory was banned
except for approved breeding consortiums approved by the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS).
In 1999, the Solomon Island Parrot Consortium (an approved cooperative breeding
program which imports lories that are not well established in U.S. Aviculture)
imported 30 pairs of Cardinal Lories into the United States to augment the
existing small captive population. The Cardinal Lory proved to be similar
to the other Chalcopsitta species in captivity. When hand-reared, young
Cardinal Lories can be extremely trusting individuals. While Cardinal
Lories make exceptional pets, at this time most offspring should be placed
into breeding situations until their numbers are better established.
We are proud to announce that we now have three generations of Cardinal
Lories in our aviaries. The first generation being the original wild
caught adults that were imported as part of the Solomon Island Parrot
Consortium.
View more photos of Cardinal
Lories in our photo gallery.
Photo: M. Warden
Captive-bred Cardinal Lory pair with
parent-reared
offspring. This offspring represents 3 generations of
Cardinal Lories in our aviary.
References:
Collar, N.J. (1997). Family Psittacidae (Parrots). Pp. 280-477
in: del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A. & Sargatal, J. eds. (1997). Handbook
of the Birds of the World. Vol 4. Sandgrouse to Cuckoos.
Lynx Edicions: Barcelona
Low, R. (1998). Hancock House Encyclopedia of the Lories.
Hancock House: Blaine, WA
loriinae.com
