Blue-fronted Lorikeet (Charmosyna toxopei)

[order] PSITTACIFORMES | [family] Psittacidae | [latin] Charmosyna toxopei | [authority] Siebers, 1930 | [UK] Blue-fronted Lorikeet | [FR] Lori de Buru | [DE] Burolori | [ES] Lori de Buru | [NL] Buru-lori | [copyright picture] Birdlife

Subspecies

Genus

Physical charateristics

Slender, forest-dwelling lorikeet. Male predominantly green, yellowish-green on breast. Orange bill and legs, pale blue forecrown. Yellow band across underside of secondaries. Female has reduced blue on crown and stronger band on secondaries. Female Red-breasted Pygmy-parrot Micropsitta bruijnii has short tail and contrastingly pale cheeks and throat. Female Red-flanked Lorikeet C. placentis placentis (probably absent from Buru) has streaked cheeks

Range

Australasia : South Moluccas, Charmosyna toxopei is endemic to the island of Buru, South Maluku, Indonesia, where it was known from seven specimens collected in the 1920s, on the west side of Lake Rana.

Habitat

The original series of specimens was collected between 850 and 1,000 m. There is one aural record from a coconut plantation in the south, at or near sea-level. Recent observations of a Charmosyna species come from plantations, and selectively logged secondary and primary forest around 600 m. Anecdotal information collected from interviews with local people suggest that it is probably a lower montane species, which in some years occurs down to the coastal lowlands. It has been seen in pairs but apparently occurs more commonly in groups of up to 10 individuals.

Reproduction

No data

Feeding habits

Individuals found feeding on nectar and pollen, in trees on apparently level land

Conservation

This species has not been positively identified for many years despite several surveys of Buru, suggesting that its population is very small, and likely to be decreasing given that its habitat is shrinking in extent and quality. For these reasons it is considered Critically Endangered.
Most forest in the coastal lowland of Buru has now been cleared, and much of the forest in the northern part of the island has been selectively logged or degraded and fragmented by shifting agriculture, such that only a few small patches of primary lowland forest remain. However, gardens on the island still contain many indigenous tree species. In 2010, there was at least one fairly large-scale logging operation on Buru, situated in the lowlands. However, the island’s extensive montane forests remain largely undisturbed. The topography of the Kaplamandan mountain range means that almost all of the montane forest is expected to be inaccessible to loggers. All the original specimens were caught alive using lime, however the species is not kept as a pet, nor apparently is it traded. Having a montane distribution that is close to the maximum altitude within its range, this species is potentially susceptible to climate change.

Migration

Interviews with local inhabitants suggest that the species moves to the lowlands during the two annual hot seasons, in March-April and August-November

Distribution map