Ten years of experience with the Rosenberg's Lory, Trichoglossus haematodus rosenbergii (Schlegel, 1871)
Introduction
Twelve years ago the first Rosenberg's Lories were imported into Europe. At that moment I only knew the bird from drawings in books, such as "Parrots of the World". The first time I saw this species alive I knew immediately what I wanted: to add this very distinctive subspecies of T. haematodus to my collection. In 1992 I was able to obtain some captive bred birds. You can read my experiences with these birds in this article.
Taxonomy
The taxonomy has been described in the previous article, about the nominate race, the Green-Naped Lory, T. h. haematodus, and is therefore not dealt with here.
Description
Length: 26 cm to 27 cm
Weight: about 125 g to 140 g
For those who do not know this beautiful subspecies of T. haematodus I describe it here briefly. Most striking is the wide yellow nuchal collar with spots of red in most birds. Between the yellow collar and the nape is a narrow reddish band. The head is dark blue. Barring on the breast is, in comparison to the Green-Naped Lory, extremely heavy. As a result it seems that some birds have an almost completely dark blue breast. The belly is deep bluish black. With no doubt this is one of the most beautiful subspecies of T. haematodus.
Range
They occur on Biak Island and Korrido Island. These islands are situated in the Geelvink Bay which is located north-west of New Guinea.
Status
Little is known about its status in the wild and there is almost nothing in the literature about this subject. During my stay at Biak Island in 1994 I did not see this subspecies. Thomas Arndt had a brief glimpse of a Rosenberg's Lory when he visited Biak Island in 1991.
Because of its small range and the destruction of forests, it is considered that the wild population is rather small and vulnerable. Hopefully a good survey will be carried out in the near future.
Aviculture
Because small numbers of Rosenberg's Lories were imported at one time, the subspecies is hardly known by most breeders. Birds were imported into Europe, the United States and South-Africa. Because of the small numbers there are only a few bloodlines.
Since the early 90's I have kept several pairs in my aviaries and I still enjoy keeping these birds a great deal. I am building up a second generation to breed with. Breeding this race is easy and comparable with breeding other subspecies of T. haematodus, like the Green-Naped Lory.
The sex can, as a rule, only be determined by endoscopy or by DNA testing. Experienced breeders are sometimes able to determine the sex using visual characteristics. In some pairs it is possible to sex their chicks at an early age.
For successful breeding it is important that two birds accept each other as partners. Also in the other Rainbow species some birds are difficult to pair up. In that case the solution is to find a new partner for each bird.
In my opinion it takes a little while longer for the Rosenberg's Lory to become sexually mature than for the Green-Naped Lory. In a warmer climate, lories breed sooner than in the colder Western European countries. We can decrease the age at which birds become sexually mature by keeping them in a heated aviary. This also prevents problems like frozen food, eggs which die prior to hatching or frozen chicks. It often occurs that parents pluck feathers. In combination with a wet nest, this may lead to cooling down and starvation. Unfortunately this still happens regularly.
The standard size of a nest box is 40 cm high and 20 cm square, and the diameter of the entrance hole should be 6 cm. However, better alternatives are nest boxes that are hung at an angle or L-shaped nest boxes. The floor can be covered with normal wood shavings. Even when the birds are not breeding it is necessary to clean the nest box regularly. Young pairs sometimes defecate in the nest box.
One can notice that a pair wants to start breeding when they produce alarm sounds if one approaches the nest box. They will also dig in the wood shavings and spend a lot of time in the nest box during the daytime. By introducing thick twigs into the nest box the birds have something to gnaw on and it might strengthen the pair bond. With a bit of luck, one can expect eggs within a few weeks. The first time the eggs might not be fertile, especially when the male is quite young. In this case one can let the birds incubate for the normal period, or change their eggs with fertile eggs of another pair. This gives the breeder the opportunity to find out whether or not the pair is able to raise chicks. Of course this should be done only if the normal breeding time is not exceeded (preferably not by more than 4 or 5 days).
The eggs are white and have an oval shape. The average size of the eggs of my birds is 21 x 30 mm. Two eggs form the normal clutch, but sometimes a clutch of three eggs occurs. A third egg is sometimes produced after the loss of one of the eggs, for example because it was laid outside the nest box. Clutches of only one egg also occur. The female usually lays with an interval of two days between eggs. After 23 - 26 days the eggs hatch, but this may be influenced by the temperature in the aviary. Sometimes a chick will come out of the egg within a few hours after the first pipping, but it may also take as much as two days.
When eggs are hatching the male will spend a lot of time inside the nest box and the pair will eat less nectar. So without nest box inspection one can know that the eggs have hatched. Though the time interval between the laying of the eggs is usually 2 days, the second chick usually hatches only one day after the first. This indicates that the female has not started to incubate directly after she has laid the first egg. The chicks weigh 5 grams and have white greyish down. Chicks may be rung after a little less than two weeks, when they open their eyes. The exact time of ringing is variable and depends on the chick's growth, which is influenced by the kind of food (i.e. proteïn level) and temperature. The ring size is 6 mm, but in case chicks are rung late, one may use a 7 mm ring as well. Two weeks after hatching the nest box becomes more and more fouled, especially when there are two chicks, and after 15 to 20 days the nest box has to be cleaned regularly. To avoid transmission of diseases it is recommended to clean only one nest box at a time. Chicks often die at an age of 4 - 5 weeks, mostly because the nest box is too wet. Wet nest boxes can result in growth of bacteria and chilling of chicks. Wet nest boxes can also stimulate the parent birds to pluck their offspring more severely.
My Rosenberg's Lories are plucking their chicks severely. When a pair raises chicks for the first time, they sometimes do not pluck much. Plucking usually increases with every new brood. The measures against plucking (this magazine contained an article on this subject) are:
" allowing extra light into the nest box, e.g. by (depending on the type of nest box) removing the lid, or by changing the back of the nest box with a transparent one.
" placing the nest box on the ground, without a lid
" placing coarse welded mesh between the parents and the chicks
Welded mesh between the parents and their chicks in combination with extra light in the nest box are the methods I prefer (the chicks have to be at least four weeks old). If one applies these methods it is important to observe the birds carefully, because it is possible that the sudden change will make the parent birds stop feeding. Sometimes it is necessary to feed the chicks once, until the parents are used to the new situation.
One can distract the parent birds by giving them extra twigs to gnaw on.
Sometimes it is necessary to separate the chicks from their parents, just before they are about to fledge. Otherwise the parents might pluck the chicks as soon as they leave the nest box. It is therefore important to observe the parent birds when the young birds have fledged. Fortunately, there are also cases in which the parent birds did not start plucking again after their young had fledged. If one decides to separate the young birds from their parents, it is necessary to give them warm food (about 30 degrees °C) in a flat dish, during the first days. They will quickly learn to eat in that case. Of course it is also possible to hand-rear the chicks. The best moment to start with this is when the chicks are about three to four weeks old. This is the age at which the parents usually start to pluck. In that case feeding has to take place four times a day. Hand-rearing lories is, compared to hand-rearing other parrot species, quite easy and takes only little time. After six weeks, when the chicks are almost fully feathered it is possible to teach them how to eat warm nectar. When the young birds are independent and are able to fly, the best way of keeping them is in an aviary with other birds of the same age. This is important for the social development of the young birds. The playing and interaction with other young birds quickly makes them forget that they were hand-reared. The hand-reared birds will always be tamer than the individuals that were parent-reared. My experience is, however, that these birds are excellent breeders. A minor disadvantage is the fact that they are a bit more aggressive when they have eggs or chicks themselves since they no longer fear humans.
Breeding with more than one pair of the same species can have a lot of advantages: it is more easy to supply new unrelated pairs and it is possible to exchange eggs or chicks of pairs that feed badly or pluck feathers (although it is also possible to exchange eggs or chicks among different species). Another advantage of breeding with more than one pair of the same kind is that one becomes experienced in a species in a short period of time, which is necessary to recognise and solve problems more easily. The food for this subspecies is similar to that of the other subspecies. This subspecies is doing well on almost any kind of food. This enables one to choose between a commercial nectar or your own, proven mixture. I use two kinds of food, namely Lorinectar of Aves and also a non commercial mixture that was developed in Germany.
Evaluating the past ten years of breeding with Rosenberg's Lories, there is still no stable population in aviculture in Europe, America or South-Africa. Particularly during the first years, numerous young birds were bred from only six pairs. These young birds were, together with other bloodlines, particularly from Germany, spread over Europe and South-Africa. Somehow the total number of birds in Europe did not grow: there are probably a little more than 100 pairs left. At the moment the species is being bred in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, France, England and perhaps a few other countries as well.
The conclusion is clear: nowadays there are more Rosenberg's Lories than in the early nineties, but they are still not common and their future remains to be secured with further serious efforts at breeding this wonderful subspecies.
Literature
BESWERDA, F (1981); Lori's, Zuidgroep BV Uitgevers, Best
LOW, R (1998); Encyclopaedia of the Lories, Hancock House Publishers
MIVART, G (1896); A monograph of the lories, R.H. Porter, London
JUNIPER, T & PARR, M (1998); Parrots, A guide to the Parrots of the World
