The national bird of Fiji is Collared Lory. It is also called the Parrot of paradise. It is a class of parrot which include in family of the Psittacidae, it was extinguished at the beginning of the last century.
Fiji National Bird
In couples or small family groups, the national bird of Fiji were characterized by being shy and not being seen up close. Usually these birds came to drink in the water at night or at dawn.
Interesting facts about Collared Lory
Flight
They were birds with a slightly wavy and fast flight, which were also agile and moved quickly on the ground.
Tail
National bird of Fiji is Almost as long as his body, something strange and more considering that it was a bird that liked to be on the ground.
Voice
They have a soft whistles.
Character
Because of their active nature, they were also active in captivity where they could not be moved away with other birds as they behaved aggressively.
Plumage
These birds because of their beautiful plumage were brought to Europe to be cage birds.
Colors
These are colorful birds, having more variety males than females. The pups resembled the females. The males had a red spot on the forehead of which the females were missing. It was a medium-sized parrot (27 cm long) with a colorful plumage with turquoise, scarlet, black, and brown, yellow, gray.
[table caption=”Collared Lory Features” width=”500″]
No.,Features,Measures,
1,National Bird,Fiji
2,Family,Psittaculidae
3,Wingspan,100–115 cm
4,Phylum,Chordata
5,Mass Male, 50grm.
6,Mass Female,50grm.
7,Body Length,20 cm
[/table]
Feeding
It consisted mostly of herbal seeds. This parrot flew in the grassy areas and with its beak removed the seeds from the leaves, and then fed on the seeds of the soil. It probably consumed some plant and insects and their larvae.
Reproduction
With respect to its time of reproduction, this went from December to March.
Nests
They were mounds of sand or termiteros in the ground, where with their strong claws and pico they excarvaban to construct the cavity where to lay the eggs. The entrance used to be in the lower part.
Do you know Turquoise-browed Motmot is the national bird of El Salvador ?
They were 23 cm long in the tunnel and 4 cm in diameter, followed by the cavity with a diameter of 38 to 45 cm and 20 in height. The floor was not aligned.
Eggs
They put of 3 to 5 eggs that only incubated the female. The male regularly visited her. The measurements of the eggs are in 12.2 x 17.6 cm. In captivity the incubation lasted 3 weeks, and the chicks flew at 5 weeks.
Habitat
It inhabited central and southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, Australia. They lived in open forests, sabans with trees and especially in river valleys.
Threats
Their food was reduced drastically because the cattle introduced in Australia ate the pastures from where the parrots obtained the seeds. In addition the farmers changed the frequency of the fires, since they provoked them to burn the pastures and that these grew better. This also affected these parrots. Other introduced species also altered the medium and these birds. Rats preyed directly on eggs and chicks as they fit in nests. Removal of eucalyptus also affected them.
The man also posed a direct threat since he took the eggs or the adults to have them caged well in Australia, or in Europe, where demand for these birds, especially England, thrived. In the following text we have a sample of what was thought of this bird, and the threat that loomed over it. This is written by the British ornithologist William Thomas Greene, in his book Parrots in Captivity: “No one can see one without wishing to possess one of these beautiful and graceful birds, reason why many aficionados pay a lot of money for one of them. But beware, because one out of every dozen of these birds live a few months and die suddenly.
Collared Lory Picture
