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The lory and lorikeets are colorful parrots that come in many different hues, including rainbow lorikeets. They are highly social birds that are natural clowns. They can be easily trained, can be trained to talk, and often mimic sounds. Lories and lorikeets voices are higher pitched than other parrots so the voice quality in their speech is not as good as the Amazon or African grey.
While Lories and Lorikeets is a parrot from the Psittacidae family they have one very unique characteristic. They have brush tongues; these brushes are made of papilla, which is used to remove nectar from flowers. In the wild their primary diet is fruit and nectar. They have very different nutritional needs from other parrots and in fact cannot have seeds. The ventriculus or gizzard is not capable of grinding dry seeds. If they do eat dry seeds they will die of malnutrition or crop impaction.
There are many different sub species of lories and lorikeets from many different countries like Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Pacific Islands, Philippines, and Solomon Islands. Their lifespan varies from species to species from approximately 28-38 years.
A lory and a lorikeet can be very sweet and have delightful personalities. They are nature’s perfect little clowns, seemly happier hanging upside down, than standing on perches.
The difference between a lorikeet and a lory is that the lorikeet has a long pointed tail and a Lory a short blunt tail and a heavier body.
One disadvantage to the lories and lorikeets is that their droppings are messy because of the liquid, fruity diet. It’s more of a liquid dropping that can splatter and adhere to where ever it falls. They can on occasion be a bit nippy.
Purchasing a Lorikeet or Lory
Be sure to purchase a bird from a reputable lory and lorikeet breeder, or pet store. Make sure it is a domestically bred bird. Many species of lories and lorikeets are extinct or endangered. Loss of habitat and exploitation is the primary factors of their extinction and endangerment.
A healthy Lorikeet or Lory should have glossy feathers and bright shiny eyes. I recommend having any bird checked out by an avian veterinarian before purchasing for examination and laboratory tests. These tests should include a complete blood count, (CBC) Chlamydia Screen and a culture of the throat and vent.
Always quarantine a new bird away from other birds for about 8 weeks before introducing the new bird to other birds in your home.
Cages and Accessories
Caging or housing Lories and Lorikeets is different from other parrots. Because of their unusual diet their droppings are very messy.
They should have a big cage. If you do use a parrot cage fit the outside of it with polycarbonate or acrylic plastic sheets but allow plenty of ventilation. Other alternatives are suspended aviaries with mess floors and acrylic boxes with mesh on the back and sides for adequate ventilation.
You should outfit the inside of the cage with hard wood branches from safe non-toxic trees. You will need feeders, food dishes, and water dishes for drinking and bathing.
These birds are highly intelligent, very energetic, acrobatic, and curious and will need a large assortment of toys to play with. Be sure to rotate the toys often to add the benefit of variety. They are also very affectionate and need to spend a great deal of quality time with you. They are very social in the wild and you become their flock or family. They will play with balls for hours at a time. Supply bird toys, human infant baby toys, or wadded up paper without ink. Be careful not to use toys with strings they can get caught up or get hung and die.
Health and Nutrition
The Lory or Lorikeet loves to be bathed and you should always provide them with a clean source of bath water. They also love to be misted from a soft spray mister. Use filtered water for bathing, misting, and drinking.
The cage and accessories need to be kept clean and sanitized.
Special care should be given to remove fresh foods so that they don’t spoil. The bird can get sick and die eating spoiled foods. Because of their fresh fruit and nectar diet these foods can spoil very rapidly especially on a warm day. Be sure to rinse fresh fruit.
Lorries and Lorikeets cannot have much protein. Limit their protein intake to no more than 15 percent a day. Their diet needs to be high carbohydrates that contains between 12-14% proteins. There are commercially available Lory foods that can be supplemented with fruits and fresh greens.
Commercially Available Nectar Foods
Species Specific Food for Lories - 8 lbSummary
Lories and Lorikeets have very different dietary and caging needs than other variety of parrots. They differ because they are nectar and fruit eaters. They are energetic, social, and incredible little clowns. They can bond very closely with their human family but can also become very jealous. Always supervise these birds around other birds, animals, and children. They are usually sweet tempered but some can be a bit nippy. They mimic sounds. In fact they seem to “collect sounds” building quite a large repertoire of different sounds. They are quick learners and can be trained to do tricks very easily. They love to play with toys and need a different variety of toys to keep mentally active and alert. You need to spend a great deal of quality time with this bird. Above all else enjoy your Lory.
My Exotic Pet Shop
Bird Shop - Large Parrots
Handbook of Lories & Lorikeets
This is a mahogany (very expensive) bird cage being displayed for example only.
Go to Amazon and look at the description of the cage, notice the no-mess Plexiglas - removable shield on all four sides 
The Bentley By Heritage Wood Bird Cage
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