The rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus) is a species of parrot found in Australia. It is common along the eastern seaboard, from northern Queensland to South Australia. Its habitat is rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas. Six taxa traditionally listed as subspecies of the rainbow lorikeet are now treated as separate species (see Taxonomy). Rainbow lorikeets have been introduced to Perth, Western Australia; Tasmania; Auckland, New Zealand; and Hong Kong. Taxonomy The rainbow lorikeet was formally listed in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin under the binomial name Psittacus moluccanus. Gmelin cited the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon who in 1779 had published a description of "La Perruche à Face Bleu" in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. The species was illustrated as the "Peluche des Moluques" and as the "Perruche d'Amboine". Gmelin was misled and coined the specific epithet moluccanus as he believed the specimens had come from the Moluccas. The type locality was changed to Botany Bay in Australia by Gregory Mathews in 1916. The rainbow lorikeet is now placed in the genus Trichoglossus that was introduced in 1826 by the English naturalist James Francis Stephens. Two subspecies are recognised: T. m. septentrionalis Robinson, 1900 – Cape York Peninsula (northeast Australia) T. m. moluccanus (Gmelin, JF, 1788) – Australia (except Cape York Peninsula) and Tasmania The rainbow lorikeet has often included the red-collared lorikeet (T. rubritorquis) as a subspecies, but today most major authorities consider it separate. Additionally, a review in 1997 led to the recommendation of splitting off some of the most distinctive taxa from the Lesser Sundas as separate species, these being the scarlet-breasted lorikeet (T. forsteni), the marigold lorikeet (T. capistratus) and the Flores lorikeet (T. weberi). This is increasingly followed by major authorities. In 2019 The rainbow lorikeet in Australia was split into three: rainbow, coconut (Trichoglossus haematodus) and red-collared lorikeets (Trichoglossus rubritorquis). Three syntypes of Trichoglossus novaehollandiae septentrionalis Robinson (Bull. Liverpool Mus., 2, 1900, p.115) are held in the vertebrate zoology collection of National Museums Liverpool at World Museum, with accession numbers NML-VZ 23.7.1900.4, NML-VZ 23.7.1900.4a, and NML-VZ 23.7.1900.4b. The specimens were collected in Cooktown, Queensland, Australia by E. Olive. The specimens came to the Liverpool national collection via purchase from H. C. Robinson. Description The rainbow lorikeet is a medium-sized parrot, with the length ranging from including the tail, and the weight varies from . The plumage of the nominate