Vini | |
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Blue-crowned lorikeet (Vini australis) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Psittaciformes |
Family: | Psittaculidae |
Tribe: | Loriini |
Genus: | Vini Lesson, RP, 1833 |
Type species | |
Vini coccinea Lesson, 1833
|
Vini is a genus of birds in the family Psittaculidae that are endemic to the islands of the tropical Pacific. There are eleven extant species of these small lorikeets ranging from the Bismark Archipelago through Fiji, Samoa, French Polynesia, and as far east as Henderson Island. All members of the genus have exceptional bright plumage, particularly the unusual all over blues of the blue lorikeet and the ultramarine lorikeet.
The Vini lorikeets are highly threatened by human changes to their islands. Most species have been lost from a number of islands and two species became extinct before the arrival of European explorers in the Pacific. As of 2017[update], two species are listed as endangered species by the IUCN and two are considered vulnerable.[1] They are primarily threatened by introduced species, such as rats, and habitat loss.