Red-collared Lorikeet

1. Broad orange-red collar and breast with a blue-black head and belly

2. Bright green wings and back, blue band on the mantle

3. Loud, screeching calls and highly social flocks

Red-collared Lorikeets are nectar and pollen specialists, using their brush-tipped tongues to feed from the flowers of eucalypts, paperbarks, grevilleas, and other native trees. Their diet also includes fruits, seeds, and occasionally insects These birds are highly social, often forming large, noisy flocks, and sometimes mixing with the smaller Varied Lorikeet. Breeding usually occurs from August to January or sometimes March to June, with pairs nesting in tree hollows high above the ground. Clutches typically contain two matte white eggs, and both parents help raise the chicks.

Red-collared Lorikeets are found across northern Australia, from Broome and the Kimberley in Western Australia, through the Top End of the Northern Territory, to the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland. They inhabit a range of habitats including tropical woodlands, riverine eucalypt forests, paperbark swamps, and urban parks and gardens. These lorikeets are highly visible and vocal, often seen feeding in flowering trees or gathering in large, noisy communal roosts, especially in cities like Darwin. They are mostly sedentary but will move locally to follow the flowering of key food plants such as Darwin woollybutt (*Eucalyptus miniata*) and banksias.