Description
The plumage of Eos lories is predominantly red, set off with blue, purple or black markings. They range in length from 24 cm (9 in) in the Blue-eared Lory to 31 cm (12 in) in several of the larger species. The bill is orange-red, the irises are reddish to reddish-brown, and the legs are grey. Males and females are identical in external appearance. They have a musky odour, especially noticeable in the Black-winged Lory, which is retained even in museum skins. Juvenile birds are partly striated owing to feathers with darker or dusky tips, and they have orange-brown to black beaks.
Species in the genus Eos are distinguished from lories in the genus Chalcopsitta by shorter tails and the absence of a bare patch of skin around the mandibles. The Eos genus does not have green plumage, which helps to identify them from some species of other lory genera.
Eos (Ἔως) is Greek for "dawn", referring to the red plumage.
Read more about this topic: Eos (genus)
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