Knowra Loriini Loriini Loriini is a tribe of parrots comprising lories and lorikeets, native mainly to Australasia. Its members are distinguished by brush-tipped tongues adapted for feeding on nectar and pollen.
Brush-tipped tongue : A tongue ending in papillae that collect liquid food and fine particles. Its dense papillae let Loriini species gather nectar and pollen.
Nectar : A sugary liquid secreted by flowers and some other plant structures. It is a major food source for many Loriini species.
Kea : A large, alpine parrot native to New Zealand, known for its omnivorous diet. Unlike nectar-specialized Loriini, the kea is adapted to varied foods and alpine habitats.
Australasia : A region encompassing Australia, New Zealand, and neighboring islands of the southwestern Pacific. Most Loriini species are native to this broad region.
Habitat loss : The destruction or conversion of natural environments, reducing the area available to wildlife. Forest clearing removes feeding and nesting sites used by many Loriini.
Nectarivore : An animal that obtains much of its food from floral nectar. Nectarivory helps explain the tribe’s distinctive feeding anatomy.
Pollination : The transfer of pollen to a plant’s reproductive structures, enabling fertilization. While feeding, lorikeets can transfer pollen between flowers.
Red-and-blue lory : A brightly colored lory native to islands of eastern Indonesia. It exemplifies the island diversity of lories within Loriini.
Wallacea : A group of Indonesian islands between the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Several lories occur across these islands, where faunas from both regions meet.
Wildlife trade : The buying, selling, or exchange of wild animals and their parts. Capture for the pet trade has threatened some island lory populations.
Show all 26