Indonesian parrot, seen once in a century, reappears in mountain forest
Key takeaways
- After days of climbing through sharp limestone, biting insects and difficult mountain terrain, a flash of green feathers high on Buru’s highest peak showed that this dazzlingly colourful parrot was still there.
- Endemic to the island of Buru – meaning it is found nowhere else on Earth – the small bird was spotted in April during an expedition led by an Indonesian mountaineering group.
- The lorikeet’s bright green body, orange bill, blue hindcrown and pointed tail helped the team identify it.
Why this matters: local context for readers following news across Pakistan and the region.
Add ARY News on Google AAResize For the past century, the Blue-fronted Lorikeet was one of Indonesia’s most elusive birds, known only from a 2014 photographic record and a handful of museum specimens, with a lingering hope that it had not vanished. After days of climbing through sharp limestone, biting insects and difficult mountain terrain, a flash of green feathers high on Buru’s highest peak showed that this dazzlingly colourful parrot was still there.
Endemic to the island of Buru – meaning it is found nowhere else on Earth – the small bird was spotted in April during an expedition led by an Indonesian mountaineering group. The team photographed the bird for the first time in 12 years and captured the first sound recordings of its high-pitched calls – sounds birds often use to keep contact in the forest canopy.
The lorikeet’s bright green body, orange bill, blue hindcrown and pointed tail helped the team identify it.