The Blue Eared Lory, Eos semilarvata


General
This bird species was described for the first time in 1850 by Bonaparte. The scientific name was unchanged all these years. In Europe, this species was bred for the first time in the previous century. They were imported by Streseman.

There will be very few breeders among us who ever personally saw this species. Not so long ago, this bird was known only through sketches. This unfamiliarity, fortunately, is not because of scarcity in the wild, but rather because of difficulty in accessibility to the area they inhabit. A few years ago, someone was able to catch a few birds. Whether or not we should applaud this remains to be seen. As long as an area is well protected, it deserves preferential treatment to keep a good population going. It is debatable whether it is better to have a small caged population to ensure the species in its natural environment in case it runs into problems in nature, i.e., biotopic destruction through deforestation. At the moment, South Africa, Europe and Singapore have a small number of Blue Eared Lories. Exchange of bloodlines is important to prevent inbreeding. There are no known subspecies.

Description
Weight between 85 to 105 grams.
The Blue Eared Lory is not as spectacular as the Red Lory, Eos bornea and the Obi Lory, Eos squamata obiensis. The Blue Eared Lory is obviously smaller than the Red Lory and is similar in size to the Obi Lory, about 24 cm. The difference in colour with the Red Lory shows in the blue cheeks (see picture) and the blue belly. Of the Red Lory is known that young birds can have areas of variable blue feathers especially on top of the head. Because of these areas, it is known that in the past breeders would buy imported (young) Red Lories as being Blue Eared Lories (especially young Eos bornea bernsteini are almost identical to the Blue Eared Lories). After molting, the breeders would find out that they had been stung. In principle, the size should offer results, but because Red Lories can vary greatly in size and young birds have not taken on the adult size, it is possible to make mistakes. Young birds, overall, have a duller colour and the blue feathers are not yet brightly coloured. Often, these blue parts are sprinkled with red feathers.

Distribution
Blue Eared Lories exist in central Ceram, an island belonging to Indonesia, It is found in the higher parts where it replaces the Red Lory which prefers the lower parts and coastal regions.

As was mentioned earlier, the bird is not a rarity, which does not mean that it is a frequently seen species. According to Bowler and Taylor (1989), they were found in 1987 generally above the 1200 m on Mount Binaia. They counted approximately 1.5 birds per hour. They were sighted on the almost bald peak, where birds were feeding. On the nearby mountain, Mount Kobipoto, they were more common and 3.8 birds per hour were counted.

Some flowering trees attracted a fair number of birds, from a height of 800 m. Here, they can mix in with the much more common Red Lory which exists up to 1200 m high.

Further information
As this specie has only been kept for a short time, not too much is known about breeding, care, etc. We can probably assume, however, that this does not differ too much from the other Eos species. It is well known that the Blue Eared Lory is not kept much by the local population (which calls them dara). The call-note seems to be the same as that of the Red Lory.

Literature
FORSHAW, J.M., & COOPER, W.T. (1989): Parrots of the World, Landsdowne Edition
Stresemann, E (1 914): Die vogel von Seran (Ceram), Novitates Zoologicae, 21: 25-153.