Body length about 31 cm; weight 150-200 g. The color of the plumage consists of red, blue and green flowers. The head at the top is blue-black. The upper back, chest, abdomen and lower tail coverts are blue. The band on the back of the head, cheeks, throat, sides, lower back and lower wing coverts are bright red. The wings are green with olive-yellow spots. Outwardly, the male does not differ from the female .
They live in New Guinea and adjacent islands.
Inhabit plain forests , palm groves, sometimes mountain forests up to a height of 1000 (maximum 1750) m above sea level. seas. They live in small family groups. They feed on flowers, buds, immature seeds, larvae and insects. Especially fond of flowers of climbing plants from the genus Freycinetia ( Pandanaceae ).
The female lays 2 eggs and hatches them herself. The male feeds her. Chicks hatch on day 25-26. After 8-10 weeks they leave the nest, but their parents still feed them for a while.
They were first brought to Europe in 1874 . Among this species there are quite quick-witted parrots that can learn to speak a lot of words, but they are loud, their voice is sharp and loud. They can live in captivity for quite some time.
The view includes 8 subspecies:
- British wide-tailed lory ( Lorius lory amabilis ) - lives on the islands of New Britain. It is similar in color to the nominative subspecies, but it does not have a black “cap” on its head. The lower covering tail feathers, the middle part of the abdomen and lower legs are purple, the spots on the wings are yellow. Nape of violet hue; legs yellow-brown.
- Lorius lory cyanuchen (S. Muller, 1841)
- Lorius lory erythrothorax Salvadori, 1877
- Lorius lory jobiensis (AB Meyer, 1874)
- Lorius lory lory (Linnaeus, 1758) - nominative subspecies.
- Lorius lory salvadorii AB Meyer, 1891
- Lorius lory somu (Diamond, 1967)
- Lorius lory viddicrissalis Beaufort, 1909
