Philippine hanging parrot | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Psittaciformes |
Family: | Psittaculidae |
Genus: | Loriculus |
Species: | L. philippensis
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Binomial name | |
Loriculus philippensis (P.L.S. Müller, 1776)
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The Philippine hanging parrot (Loriculus philippensis), also commonly known as the colasisi[2] from its local Tagalog name "kulasisi", is a small psittaculid parrot species endemic to the Philippines. It includes about eleven subspecies, at least one of which might represent a distinct species, although further research is needed. While it is listed as Least Concern in IUCN, some subspecies, such as L. p. chyrsonotus of Cebu and L. p. siquijorensis of Siquijor, may already be extinct. The species is threatened by habitat loss, but a bigger threat is trapping for the illegal wildlife trade; wild-caught birds are often sold as pets in streets and online selling groups.
Philippine hanging parrots are mainly green with areas of red, orange, yellow, and blue on the head and breast varying between subspecies. Males have a red breast patch, except for the population living on Camiguin, where both males and females (like females of the other subspecies) lack red on the breast. They make nests in tree holes and, unusually for a parrot, the female takes nesting material back to the nest.