Chalcopsitta is a genus of parrot in the family Psittaculidae and the subfamily Loriinae. Four of the species are native to New Guinea and western offshore islands. The name Chalcopsitta is derived from the Greek khalkos meaning "bronze" and psitta meaning "parrot".

Chalcopsitta
Black lory at Prague Zoo
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittaculidae
Tribe: Loriini
Genus: Chalcopsitta
Bonaparte, 1850
Type species
Psittacus ater
Black lory
Scopoli, 1786
Synonyms

Pseudeos Peters, J.L., 1935

Description

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The five species of the genus Chalcopsitta are about 31  32 cm (13 in) long. They have long tails, and prominent bare skin at the base of the lower mandible. Males and females have similar external appearance, and juveniles have duller plumage with more marked bare eye-rings.[1]

Taxonomy

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The genus Chalcopsitta was introduced in 1850 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte.[2] The name combines the Ancient Greek khalkos meaning "bronze" with the Modern Latin psitta meaning "parrot".[3] The type species was designated by George Robert Gray in 1855 as the black lory.[4]

Species

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The genus contains five species:[5]

ImageCommon nameScientific nameDistribution
Dusky loryChalcopsitta fuscataNew Guinea, including Salawati (Raja Ampat Islands, off western New Guinea) and Yapen (Cenderawasih Bay, off northwestern New Guinea)
Cardinal loryChalcopsitta cardinalislowlands of Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands
Brown loryChalcopsitta duivenbodeinorthern New Guinea
Black loryChalcopsitta atraRaja Ampat Islands (northwest of New Guinea) and Bird's Head Peninsula (northwest New Guinea)
Yellow-streaked loryChalcopsitta scintillatasouth New Guinea and satellites

References

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  1. Forshaw (2006). plate 7.
  2. Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1850). "Nouvelles espèces ornithologiques". Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences (in French). 31: 131–139 [134].
  3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 86.
  5. AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 7 November 2025.

Cited texts

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