The beautiful Black-winged Lory – A species in danger of disappearing from aviculture
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The number of parrot species being bred in numbers sufficient to sustain them is gradually declining. This is mainly because the market is driven by commerce and the species for which there is little demand will not survive. There are four factors that contribute to the rarity of a species in captivity:
When those factors are combined, the species is likely to be heading for avicultural extinction. The first three apply to the Black-winged Lory (Eos cyanogenia), an extremely beautiful bird with ruby-red eyes, black wings and violet cheeks. Its body is the intense red of ripe hawthorn berries. During the 1980s, the volume and number of species of wild-caught parrots imported into Europe and the USA escalated to unprecedented numbers. During this decade, little-known species were imported that briefly became common, but soon their numbers were in steep decline. TradeBlack-winged Lories occur only on the Indonesian island of Biak and satellite islands. They were rarely seen in aviculture until the 1980s when some fairly large shipments reached Europe. However, in December 1989, the EU restricted the import of this species. International concern about its status and the high level of trade led to its inclusion in phase one of the CITES Significant Trade Review in 1991. |
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As a result, in 1994, Indonesia placed a moratorium on its export, pending a field survey to determine its status. This might not have been very significant, as there was a large domestic trade as well as illegal export. The EU import ban was, of course, effective in reducing its numbers in Europe, and by the early 1990s the Black-winged Lory was rarely seen in aviculture. In 1992, a zero export quota was set by Indonesia.
Its captive numbers declined rapidly in Europe and in the USA. The problem was that at the time it was available, no one realised the impact that trade had had on its numbers. It was perceived as just another lory coming out of Indonesia. Between 1987 and 1991, a total of 13,187 Black-winged Lories was reported to CITES as exported. I would be surprised to learn that even 1% of these birds were alive today, and the number is probably much lower. Between 1991 and 1995, 223 wild-caught specimens were recorded in international trade.
The United Kingdom
During the 1980s, several breeders in the UK were quite successful with this lory. However, only Andrew Blyth realised the importance of maintaining a captive population. He acquired several pairs, the first of which bred in 1984. By 1991, he had reared a substantial number. Not long afterwards, he sold his lory collection. What happened to the Black-wings is not known to me, but if they were dispersed among several people, the opportunity to establish the Black-winged Lory was lost.
I have asked several former owners what happened to their birds. One in the UK told me that he had two pairs, but one day he decided to sell all his lories. He took them all to a big dealer who has a large export clientele. At the time lories were being exported to countries such as Portugal and Brazil, where there was little experience of keeping these birds, and where, at the time, no commercial lory foods were available. Most of them died in a short while, due to an inadequate diet.
During a subsequent visit to the Netherlands, I continued my enquiries regarding this species. A former breeder was Hank Michorius. He had thirty years of experience with lories, breeding such rare species as the Striated. It was his experience that most hand-reared male Black-wings were aggressive, and on occasions he had to remove the male when in breeding condition. I also met a young man who had recently acquired three pairs from Denmark.
The USA
Is the situation in the USA any better than that in Europe? It seems not. I contacted a man there who was so enamoured with this species that he bought up every bird he could find, until he had ten pairs. He spent several years collecting them from all over the United States, and never came across a breeder or pet owner who had more than the odd pair, or pet. He even tried to visit Biak and some of the other islands, but was thwarted by the political conditions at that time. In 2003 his family life changed and he sold all his lories to one breeder.
He admitted that he was never very successful in breeding Black-winged Lories. In his experience the males were very aggressive to the females and to the young. “L” shaped nest-boxes were not as good as “T” boxes, with two exits, that allowed the female to retreat from the male.
It is not usual for lories to be so aggressive. Aggression often results from small cages. In the USA, most lory breeders keep pairs in cages only 6ft (2m) long. In my opinion, this is much too small for a medium-sized lory which needs an aviary at least double that size.
I have been able to locate only four people in the USA with pairs. One told me: “So far I have had no success, but this is only the second year I have had a pair set up.
“I also have two unrelated hens for whom I am currently searching for mates. When I first set the pair up, I had them in a 3ft x 5ft x 3ft suspended cage. The first season (about March through May), the male displayed some interest in breeding, but the hen was unresponsive. During the summer and fall, the pair appeared to begin to bond, there was some mutual preening, and both slept in the nest box, but they perched separately.
“The second season this past spring again saw some interest from the male, but no observed response from the hen. In May I decided to change the hen. Removing the hen caused both birds considerable distress. I introduced the new hen to the male, moving the male from his cage to a planted flight (8ft square and 6ft high) that held the hen. The male showed no interest in the hen, and the hen was not interested in the male. In early August there was some aggression from the hen and I removed her and returned the original hen to the male. Both birds remained high in the suspended cage, rarely coming to the floor. In the planted flight, both hens stayed high up, while the male spent his time lower in the cage, or on the ground, among the low growing plants.” This suggested to me that the male was afraid of the females.
This breeder knew of three others in the USA. One had bred them sporadically over the years, but the young always went into the pet trade. Probably the most successful pair in the USA was at San Diego Zoo. They produced 25 young (six of which died before reaching independence) between 1989 and 1994. (I do not have records after that year).
In that era, when K C Lint was curator, breeding results with lories were excellent. Suspended cages were not used, as is usually the case in private collections in the USA where sporadic breeding, or none at all, seems to be the norm with this species. This is difficult to explain. Other Eos lories breed readily. Ironically, the only prolific pair of which I have heard in recent years is in Australia, where they are believed to be the only breeding pair. It should be noted that legal importation of this lory into Australia has never occurred.
Hard to breed?
Is the Black-winged Lory really harder to breed than other Eos species? Perhaps not – and it is a combination of factors that is currently producing poor breeding results. These factors could be:
- Lack of experience: Few breeders remain who have had extensive experience with lories. Almost everyone I spoke to had kept this species for less than two years.
- Incorrect diet: From contact with lory breeders over a period of more than 30 years, it seems to me that bad diet is the most likely reason for lack of breeding success. Today there are a number of formulated lory foods available. They are suitable for the easily bred species, such as Trichoglossus lorikeets, but some types can literally spell death or prevent breeding in other species.
- Breeding cages that are too small, resulting in aggression: Spacious aviaries (planted, if possible) are recommended for this species. A friend in the UK who has bred this species (once only) keeps his two pairs in large planted aviaries and has never experienced aggression between male and female.
- Incompatible pairs: When few birds are available, there is little opportunity to find new partners for pairs that do not get on.
When Black-winged Lories were imported from the wild, they usually proved to be shy and nervous, and few pairs bred. In Germany, Armin Brockner described them as shy and fearful when he started to keep them in 1987. Any sudden movement caused them to panic. Not until he provided each of his two pairs with a larger aviary, 12ft (4m) long, 3ft 4in (1m) wide and 6ft (2m) high, with a shelter 6ft long and 2ft 8in (80cm) wide, did they settle down. In 1990 the females laid their first clutches. They laid several clutches each year without success. In 1992 one pair finally hatched two chicks and reared one. It left the nest at about 11 weeks old and, surprisingly, was very tame (Brockner, 1995). Tame Black-wings are indeed enchanting birds, very friendly, cheeky and inquisitive.
Inventory
In July 2006, I started to make an inventory of Black-winged Lories in the UK. During the following six months I located 16 birds, none of which had bred in recent years. Unfortunately, during that period, two died. This emphasises the urgency to pair up any single birds. I would be pleased to hear from anyone who would be willing to co-operate. I believe that there are more than 14 Black-winged Lories in the UK, including a successful breeding pair whose whereabouts I have been unable to trace. Unless the few people who own these birds can start to co-operate, this handsome and delightful lory will not survive much longer in the UK.
The Black-winged Lory is not the only member of the genus facing avicultural extinction. Only the Red Lory (Eos bornea) exists in numbers that should permit its survival. In 2006 in the Netherlands, Peter de Wilde started a group called European Lori Breeders. Appealing to everyone who keeps lories and lorikeets, he is making a census which is updated and enlarged every month as new people take part. At the end of 2006 the Eos species he had registered in Europe were as follows, recorded in pairs:
- Red Lory 66
- Black-winged Lory 16
- Red and Blue Lory 14
- Blue-streaked Lory 26
- Blue-eared Lory 16
- Violet-necked Lory 22
If you keep lories and you are willing to be included, please e-mail Peter de Wilde at peter.de.wilde@home.nl.
In the wild
The Black-winged Lory has a very small range, inhabiting Biak and some small satellite islands such as Meos Num (40km –25miles long), Manim and Supiori. These islands are located in Geelvink Bay, Irian Jaya (in the western half of the island of New Guinea). The main island, Biak, is about 60km (37 miles) long.
Overall the lory’s numbers have plummeted, due to heavy trapping and deforestation. Biak has been heavily logged; its southern plains have been reduced to arid scrub and stunted woodland. This island serves as an Indonesian naval base, it has an international airport and is a transmigration site. The Black-winged Lory might already be gone from Numfor where most of the primary forest was cleared some years ago. Supiori is said to be its stronghold.
Unlike some lories which are distributed over large areas, the removal of thousands of birds from the population over a short period must have had an extremely serious impact on its numbers. It is now classified as Vulnerable (that is, it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future).
Reference cited: Brockner, A., 1995, Black-winged Lory, Australian Birdkeeper, 8 (7):320-322.
Rosemary Low has been passionately involved with birds since she was five years old – it was a pet duck that she pushed around in a doll’s pram! As a child she kept and bred Budgerigars, and at the age of 16 she was given her first parrot, a Grey. Neotropical parrots and the nectar-feeding species, the lories, have always been Rosemary’s special interest.
Rosemary has had more than 20 books published, her first being The Parrots of South America, and her two works on lories (published in 1977 and 1998) became the definitive works on these birds. Her books have been translated into German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Japanese and the Czech language.
During nearly eight years in the Canary Islands, Rosemary was curator of two of the world’s largest parrot collections, Loro Parque in Tenerife, where she had more than 200 parrot species in her care, and Palmitos Park in Gran Canaria.
Rosemary Low has travelled widely, speaking at avicultural conventions in many countries and observing more than 100 species of parrots in the wild, in more than 30 countries. As a professional writer, she has had hundreds of articles published in avicultural magazines worldwide.
Editor’s Note: Please see our Parrot Events section for information on Rosemary Low’s Annual Lory Meeting which is to be held on 13th June at Paradise Wildlife Park, Broxbourne in the United Kingdom.
Good news for those of you who’ll be attending our Symposium (13 – 15 May). Rosemary – who is one of our speakers – will have copies of her recently published book, Go West for Parrots! on sale. Marie Stafford reviewed this book in the last issue of PI Press, and she recommended it highly.
Rosemary Low will be on hand to sign copies of her book and proceeds will be donated to Parrots International.
