The blue-fronted lorikeet (Charmosynopsis toxopei) has been documented again. In April 2026, an expedition team documented the rare parrot species in the highlands of Mount Kapalatmada on the Indonesian island of Buru. It is the first confirmed record since 2014 and only the second confirmed observation of the species since its discovery around one hundred years ago.
The expedition was led by the Indonesian mountaineering group Kanal Buru under Handoko’s leadership. Participants included John C. Mittermeier of the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and the Search for Lost Birds initiative, James Eaton of Birdtour Asia and Adam Miller of Yayasan Planet Indonesia, as well as Birdtour Asia guide Sumaraja.
The blue-fronted lorikeet, also called the Buru lorikeet, was scientifically described in 1930 by the Dutch ornithologist Hendrik Cornelis Siebers. The description was based on seven specimens collected on Buru in the 1920s. After that, the species almost completely disappeared from ornithological records. For nearly a century, it remained unclear whether the small lorikeet was extremely rare, already extinct or merely overlooked in a hard-to-reach habitat.
Only in 2014 did photos by Craig Robson and a Birdquest birdwatching tour confirm that the blue-fronted lorikeet was still alive. After that, the species again remained unfindable despite further search efforts, which is why it was added in 2024 to the list of “lost birds” maintained by Search for Lost Birds.
The orange bill and bluish forehead area are clearly visible in the photo—two important features of the species. Lorikeets are parrots specialized for nectar and pollen, often with vivid coloring.
Image: James Eaton/Birdtour Asia
The rediscovery
The new expedition became possible only because of a route that local climbers had opened up to Buru’s highest peak in autumn 2025. Mount Kapalatmada reaches an elevation of about 2,700 meters. Its mountain forests have so far been scarcely explored because steep cliffs, dense vegetation, slippery terrain and difficult weather conditions made access hard.
The team reached the highlands after several days of ascent. Shortly afterward came the first encounter: two small birds flew into a nearby tree. When John C. Mittermeier raised his binoculars, he recognized a green lorikeet with an orange bill and blue forehead—the typical features of the Buru lorikeet.
This first sighting was too brief for photos. Two days later came the decisive evidence: another blue-fronted lorikeet perched for a few seconds in the mossy crown of a tree and was photographed. On the final morning in the highlands, the team finally observed several Buru lorikeets among flowering trees. They also obtained the first sound recordings of this species’ high-pitched calls.
The American Bird Conservancy documented impressions from the expedition and the rediscovery in a short video:
Why the species was overlooked for so long
The blue-fronted lorikeet is endemic to Buru, meaning it occurs only on this island in the Moluccas. Despite this narrowly restricted range, little is still known about its actual distribution, population size and way of life.
It is striking that all confirmed records come from higher elevations. The historical specimens were collected at about 850 to 1,000 meters; the 2014 record was made at about 1,300 meters. This accordingly suggested that the blue-fronted lorikeet mainly uses forests at middle elevations. These parts of Buru were later studied comparatively well. The fact that it was nevertheless hardly found there was long regarded as a warning signal: the parrot might have become extremely rare or be declining sharply.
The IUCN therefore listed the species for many years as Critically Endangered (CR). In 2024 it was moved to the category Data Deficient (DD). This does not mean that the Buru lorikeet is not threatened; rather, it shows that too little is known about its distribution, population size and habitat use to assess its extinction risk with certainty.
The key question is which habitat the lorikeet species actually prefers. If it lives in the already relatively well-studied middle elevations, its rarity would be a serious alarm signal. If, however, it primarily uses the previously scarcely explored upper mountain forests, a larger and possibly stable population may have survived there.
The new expedition supports this second possibility. The rediscovery shows that, at least today, the blue-fronted lorikeet occurs in high, hard-to-reach mountain forests. It remains open whether these higher elevations have always been its preferred habitat or whether it formerly also used lower forests and was pushed back there by habitat loss or other disturbances. It is likewise unclear whether Mount Kapalatmada is a main habitat of the species or only a last refuge.
Threatened, but barely studied: what risks loom
Image: John C. Mittermeier/American Bird Conservancy
Despite the rediscovery, the situation of the blue-fronted lorikeet remains uncertain. Almost nothing is known about the size of the population; it is probably small and restricted to certain habitats. At the same time, Buru’s forests are under pressure from logging, mining and the hunting of birds.
Konservasi Kakatua Indonesia documented extensive habitat destruction by timber companies between 2023 and 2025 at elevations of about 500 to 1,200 meters. These areas are relevant to the blue-fronted lorikeet because earlier records come from similar elevations. In addition, birds continue to be hunted for food and trade in Buru’s mountains. Several parrots are among the affected species.
It is still unclear how strongly these threats directly affect the blue-fronted lorikeet. If it lives mainly in higher, hard-to-reach mountain forests, these areas may so far have served as a natural refuge. With new routes into the highlands, however, habitats that were previously barely accessible are becoming easier to reach.
Further discoveries in the highlands
The expedition to the plateau of Mount Kapalatmada not only brought new records of the lost lorikeet; it also showed how little the mountain forests have so far been studied ornithologically.
Among the finds was the Madanga (Anthus ruficollis). The unusual songbird was long considered a white-eye, but genetic studies identified it as a tree-dwelling pipit. This makes it a taxonomic peculiarity: while most pipits use open landscapes on the ground, the Madanga lives in the treetops of mountain forests. The species is classified by the IUCN as Endangered and, after its scientific description in 1923, was long known from only four specimens before it was rediscovered in the 1990s. New sound recordings and observations could now help to better understand its way of life.
The team also documented a previously undescribed form of island thrush. This bird group had not previously been confirmed with certainty on Buru. The published photos show a bird that differs clearly from related island thrushes on other islands such as Seram or Taliabu: it is glossy black and has a conspicuous orange eye-ring as well as an orange bill. It could therefore be a new taxon not yet scientifically described. The Meyer’s goshawk (Astur meyerianus) was also recorded on Buru for the first time. This observation expands the known distribution of this bird of prey.
The findings show that the highlands of Mount Kapalatmada are not important only for the blue-fronted lorikeet. In just two weeks, the expedition team documented several rare or previously unknown bird occurrences. Buru’s forests could therefore be an important refuge for endemic, little-studied and as yet unknown species.
Why the rediscovery is only the beginning
Image: John Gerard Keulemans, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The rediscovery of the blue-fronted lorikeet is good news. It shows that even bird species that have barely or not at all been documented for decades may have survived in remote refuges. For other lost island lorikeets, this find offers at least a small glimmer of hope—for example for the New Caledonian lorikeet (Vini diadema), last documented with certainty in 1859, or for the red-throated lorikeet (V. amabilis) of the Fiji Islands, whose last confirmed record dates back almost 50 years.
But the find is only the beginning. Researchers now need to clarify how large the population is, how widely the blue-fronted lorikeet is distributed, which habitats it actually uses and what threats it faces. Particularly important will be the protection of Buru’s remaining mountain forests—together with the local people who know Mount Kapalatmada and its surroundings best.
Until now, the inaccessibility of the highlands was probably their greatest protection. Now that new routes lead into these forests, conservation measures are needed early. The blue-fronted lorikeet lives. Whether it also survives in the long term depends on whether its refuges are studied and protected in time.
The rediscovery joins other remarkable records of lost bird species. As part of the Search for Lost Birds initiative, several species that had not been documented for a long time have been rediscovered in recent years. For example, the Sulu cuckooshrike was recorded again in November 2025 in the remote forests of the Tawi-Tawi Archipelago—after almost 20 years without a confirmed sighting. In February 2026, the rusty lark from Africa’s Sahel zone was also safely documented for the first time in 94 years. Such finds show that lost species are not necessarily extinct, but they also make clear how urgently their last habitats must be protected.
Sources
- American Bird Conservancy. (2026, June 3). After a Century With Only One Sighting, Indonesia’s Blue-fronted Lorikeet Found in Unexplored Forest. https://abcbirds.org/news/blue-fronted-lorikeet-rediscovery/
- BirdLife International. 2024. Charmosyna toxopei. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T22684671A253389596. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22684671A253389596.en
- Foster, N. (2026, June 3). FOUND: Blue-fronted Lorikeet Documented in Buru’s Remote Highlands. Search for Lost Birds.
https://searchforlostbirds.org/news/found-blue-fronted-lorikeet-documented-in-burus-remote-highlands - Gray, J. (2026, June 3). The Best Photos Ever of a ‘Lost’ Parrot Seen Just Twice In a Century. PetaPixel.
https://petapixel.com/2026/06/03/new-photos-document-a-lost-parrot-for-only-the-second-time-in-a-century/
About the author: Doreen Fräßdorf
Doreen Fräßdorf is the author and publisher of artensterben.de. She researches and writes about extinct and endangered species in the modern era, with a focus on red lists, scientific studies, historical sources, and current conservation efforts. The goal is a clear, evidence-based overview of biodiversity loss and species protection.
She is also the author of a non-fiction book about extinct modern-era mammals.
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