Black and Rajah Lories

they have never become tame. Their off­spring, hand-reared and parent-reared,are very confiding, however, and quitedelightful in every way.

Among the lories, few take longer tomature than wild-caught Chalcopsittaspecies. They do not breed before fouryears and their plumage takes longer toattain full brilliance. The Rajahs whichcame to Palmitos Park in 1988 hadquite dull red on thighs and foreheaduntil 1994. The brilliance of the plumagein these areas has increased greatlyduring the past year. As so often hap­pens in parrots, captive-bred youngcolor up more quickly and three yearold birds are nearly as brightly col­ored as their parents.

The nominate Black Lory Chalcopsittaatra atra has no brilliant colors to dis­play. It is not entirely black, as theunderside of the tail is muted red andyellow. Its length is about 12 in. and itsweight about 230g to 240g. The malesI have had in my care have been notice­ably larger, with a bigger head andbeak and a much more assertive per­sonality. The Rajah Lory is slightly moreslender in build and I have not discemedany difference in male and femalebody size. Indeed, for a long time Ibelieved the male of one of our breed­ing pairs had been wrongly sexed as afemale because the female's first sixclutches (over a period of 16 months)were infertile! I recently weighed fouryoung ones: eight months, 200g; 10months, 209g; 30 months, 209g and11 months, 233g. Possibly these weightsrepresent three females and one male.

The Rajah is, in my eyes, one ofthe most beautiful of all lories. Theglossy vinous purple-black of the bodyscarlet forehead, lores, thighs, under wingcoverts and bend of the wing, and theyellow and red underside to the tail, giveit an exceptional beauty. One absolute­ly must see it in sunlight to appreciatethe unusual beauty of its body plumage.It is not black. Immature birds nearlyresemble Black Lories except perhapsfor a few scattered red feathers main­lyon the head and neck. At a few

by Rosemary LowPalmitos ParkGran Canaria

Canary Islands, Spain

Chalcopsitta atra has long been oneof my favorite birds and has

been underrated as an avicultural sub­ject. One of the reasons people chooseto keep lories is because they areexceptionally colorful birds. So whychoose a black species?

For me they have two outstandingattributes: intelligence and, in females,the potential for great affection andgentleness towards their human friends.Add to this all the other wonderfulcharacteristics of lories in general, andthe result is a very desirable bird, pro­vided that you can overlook its one fault- a very harsh voice. Lories have a spe­cial appeal for me and I find it hard tounderstand why more people do notkeep them. The usual explanation is thattheir care is too demanding. This isnot true in terms of how many minutesper day need be devoted to each pairbut they usually need to be fed twicedaily.

Black Lories have been in my carecontinuously since the 1970s, so this isone of the species which I know verywell. I kept and bred them in my owncollection in the UK; then, during the timeI was curator at Loro Parque, Tenerife,two pairs produced about three lots ofyoung annually. During the past six years,I have also had the beautiful subspeciesinsignis, the Rajah Lory, in my care inthe breeding center at Palmitos Park,Gran Canaria. Both pairs currently haveyoung; one pair bred for the first timein 1992 and the other pair in 1993.

We are unlikely to see any morewild-caught Black or Rajah Lories. It iscertainly easier to appreciate captive-bredbirds, especially those which have beenkept in close association with people,as they quickly become tame. In con­trast, mature wild-caught birds canremain aloof for years. Some wild­caught birds, no doubt trapped younger,become quite fearless. However, frommy comparatively limited experience ofwild-caught Rajah Lories, they are moretimid. I know from their colorationthat those at Palmitos Park were youngwhen they entered the collection, yet

months old the under wing covertsare dull brick red. At this stage they caneasily be confused with Bernstein'sLory Ca. bernsteini which has theunder wing coverts just tinged withred or vinous and a small area of red onlares and at the bend of the wing. In theBlack Lory the rump is faintly tinged withblue but in adults of bernsteini andinsignis it is deep blue.

In captivity, Black and Rajah Loriesare nectar- and fruit-eaters. Unlike theYellow-streaked, the birds in my careshow little enthusiasm for vegetables,even fresh corn. Pear, apple and cactusfruits are their favorite. I give branch­es laden with seed-bearing cones ofCasuarina exquisitijolia as often aspossible to all the lories. It is a naturalfood of some species and nearly all cap­tive lories welcome its appearance, evenif only to chew the bark and needles.The young ones destroy everythingand become very excited when they seeme bearing branches.

Black and Rajah Lories can be veryprolific, producing three nests of youngper year. I advocate that the pair shouldbe allowed to rear at least one young­ster annually. Indeed, one of our pairsis so prolific that I leave the youngone with them for several months afterit has left the nest. I prefer this methodof giving them a rest as I never like toremove a lory's nest-box. It is tooimportant for them as a roosting site. Ileave young lories of many species formonths with their parents and havenever had a case of aggression with thelarger species - only with the smaller ones(and then mild because the young onewas removed at the very first sign). I rec­ommend leaving young with the parentsfor at least five weeks after they haveleft the nest because they learn impor­tant aspects of behavior from their par­ents. This wilJ, I believe, help to ensuretheir own success as parents. Last yearI left a single Black-capped Lory Loriuslory nythrothorax with its parents whilethey reared the youngster of the nextnest. If I wanted a bird for breeding, thiswould be the one I would choose.

Black and Rajah Lories lay two eggswhich hatch after 24 or 25 days. Thechicks weigh 6g on hatching and havelongish (but not thick) white or graydown. They are banded with 7.5mminternal dimension rings at 16 or 17 days.The rate of development is appraximat<dythe same whether parent-rear;:d orhand-reared, although early weightsare much higher in parent-reared young.

afa WATCHBIRD 35

Young Black Lory,aged five weekshatched at LoroParqlle

Until d1ey are three years old most ofour young ones are exhibited in a largeaviary of various lory species in the park.After this age problems of aggressionwould occur. This aviary is a tremendousattraction for its color and constantactivity. I find it impossible to pass it bywithout being held spell bound by thelories antics and wonderful colors. Formost of the half million annual visitorsto the park this aviary is their introductionto lories. I wonder how many go awayand decide that they would like to findout more about these colorful andplayful parrots - and perhaps decide tokeep a pair for themselves? '+

ing food which I take to them in the earlymorning for the next couple of weeksor so. I don't spoon feed them, but offerit in a small dish, alongside the nectar.They always take the rearing food first.Incidentally, this consists of a mixtureof Milupa baby cereal, wheat hearts(wheat germ cereal) the commercialfood Nekton-Lori and papaya blendedwith bottled water.

Two year old Rajah Lories hatched in the breeding center at PalmitosPark, Gran Canaria. Note the red, blue and yellow in the plumage ofthese colorful birds.

For example, two chicks from diffe:-~nt

pairs were both banded on day 16when one weighted 64g and the other80g, yet a chick reared from an aban­doned egg was banded at 17 dayswhen it weighed only 35g. I should statehere that I have closed banded parent­reared lories of many species and havenever experienced a problem. In myopinion, it is vitally important that all lorybreeders identify their young in this way.Young leave the nest at between 10 and11 weeks. The age of hand-reared birdsat independence varies enormously,from only 45 days, up to about 13weeks, depending on the method ofweaning and the individual bird. Onereared alone, especially if it is a female,will be clinging and affectionate and notin a hurry to wean. I never try to rushtheir weaning. When they are movedfrom the hand-rearing room to a sus­pended cage outside, it is a mistake forthe hand-feeder to suddenly cut offthe attention they have been used to.They are very sensitive at this stage andreally appreciate the warm hand-rear-

Fami~y ofBlack Lorie5 at Loro Parque,Tenerife. Note the conspicuous white ~ye

rxngs which is (ypical ofyoung btrds (inthe background),

36 September/October 1995