The fairy lorikeet was formally described in 1859 by the English zoologist George Robert Gray under the binomial name Charmosyna pulchella.

The female has a wide green breast band streaked with yellow and a greenish-yellow patch on the side of the rump.

[7] The fairy lorikeet is assumed to feed on pollen and nectar foraged from flowers high in the forest canopy and is often associated with Melicope trees.

A nesting site is often a hole at the base of an epiphytic plant where a clutch of one or two eggs is incubated for about twenty five days.

[7] The fairy lorikeet has a wide range and is common in many places, though less so in other areas where it is collected for the pet trade.