Psitteuteles versicolor
Silhouette: Farelli (photo), John E. McCormack, Michael G. Harvey, Brant C. Faircloth, Nicholas G. Crawford, Travis C. Glenn, Robb T. Brumfield & T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The varied lorikeet (Psitteuteles versicolor), is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae that is endemic to the northern coastal regions of Australia. The first depiction of the species was included in a seminal folio by Edward Lear, the subject of his illustration has since been lost and it became recognised as the holotype. The name supplied in the caption was Trichoglossus versicolor, with the subheading "Variegated Parrakeet". The source of the specimen, according to Richard Schodde (1997), was incorrectly determined as "Cape York", a location proposed by Gregory Mathews in 1912 and subsequently repeated. Schodde reports the absence of records at that location, instead drawing attention the surveys of Admiral King along the Northwest coastline from Arnhem Land to King Sound and settlements in 1824, Fort Dundas at Melville Island, and the 1827 Fort Wellington at Raffles Bay, and giving... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Nitmiluk National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ranger Red’s Zoo & Conservation Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Vogelpark Turnersee | 🇦🇹 Austria |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Varied Lorikeet sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 171 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 94th most-seen of the 186 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and August
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Varied Lorikeet in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May, the lowest month. Those are among Kakadu National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against 350 mm in January. February has too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Varied Lorikeet sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Varied Lorikeet sightings, Kakadu National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Litchfield National Park (Australia, about 10%).
Same family: Psittacidae
The closest relatives of the Varied Lorikeet that you can see in Kakadu National Park (family Psittacidae, New World and African Parrots) are Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (about 60%), Little Corella (about 60%) and Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Varied Lorikeet is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakadu National Park (171 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
