Lorikeet Hybrids and Interbreeding

On the Bellerine Peninsula in Southern Victoria, three Lorikeet species have been interbreeding and hybridising to produce birds with some unique markings. Its been known that escapee Scaly-breasted Lorikeets have formed wild populations around Port Philip Bay by interbreeding with endemic Rainbow Lorikeet populations, however it now seems that some birds are also interbreeding with Musk Lorikeets, a much smaller species of Lorikeet. The slideshow contains images of birds in the population at Leopold on the Bellerine Peninsula. The birds range from pure Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeets, to Rainbow/Scaly-breasted hybrids, to markings which suggest hybrids of all three species.