The Sula Hanging Parrot (Loriculus sclateri) is a small species of parrot

Parrot

Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...

 in the Psittacidae family. It is endemic to forest and nearby habitats on the Banggai

Banggai

Banggai Archipelago is a group of islands, which is located at the far eastern end of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. It makes up a newly established regency after splitting out of Luwuk. It is surrounded by the Banda Sea's Gulf of Tolo , and the Molucca Sea...

 and Sula Islands

Sula Islands

The Sula Islands are a group of islands in North Maluku in Indonesia. Its three main islands are Mangole, Sanae and Taliabu, with smaller islands Lifamatola and Seho. It is administered as Kepulauan Sula Regency...

 in Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

.

Description and taxonomy

The Sula Hanging Parrot has sometimes been treated as a subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of the Moluccan Hanging Parrot, but the two are increasingly treated as separate species based on their distinct differences in plumage

Plumage

Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...

 and size (14 cm for the Sula Hanging Parrot versus 11 cm for the Moluccan Hanging Parrot). When recognized as separate species, the Sula Hanging Parrot has often been treated as monotypic

Monotypic

In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...

, but the subspecies L. s. ruber from the Banggai Islands has recently been re-validated, leaving the nominate for the Sula Islands. Both subspecies have an overall green plumage with red to the chin, rump and leading edge of the wing. In L. s. sclateri the mantle varies from all mustard

Mustard (color)

Mustard is a color that resembles culinary mustard. It is similar to the color Flax.-Mustard in human culture:Food* Mustard is the color of the belt awarded to the winner of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest at Nathan's Famous in Coney Island, New York.Games*In the board game Cluedo, one of the...

-orange to red broadly edged by orange, while the mantle of L. s. ruber is red with very little orange edge. Furthermore, the red rump is brighter in L. s. ruber than in L. s. sclateri.