Rainbow lorikeets have been introduced to Perth, Western Australia;[2] Tasmania;[3] Auckland, New Zealand;[4] and Hong Kong.

[5] The rainbow lorikeet was formally listed in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin under the binomial name Psittacus moluccanus.

[6] 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.

[19] The rainbow lorikeet is a medium-sized parrot, with the length ranging from 25 to 30 cm (9.8 to 11.8 in) including the tail, and the weight varies from 75 to 157 g (2.6–5.5 oz).

The head is deep blue with a greenish-yellow nuchal collar, and the rest of the upper parts (wings, back and tail) are green.

[20] They are also frequent visitors at bird feeders placed in gardens, which supply store-bought nectar, sunflower seeds, and fruits such as apples, grapes and pears.

Visitors are encouraged to feed them a specially prepared nectar, and the birds will happily settle on people's arms and heads to consume it.

Wild rainbow lorikeets can also be hand-fed by visitors at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

[27] Nesting sites are variable and can include hollows of tall trees such as eucalypts, palm trunks, or overhanging rock.

The status for some localised subspecies is more precarious, with especially T. h. rosenbergii, the Biak lorikeet (which possibly is worthy of treatment as a separate species), being threatened by habitat loss and capture for the parrot trade.

[2] They have a major impact there by competing with indigenous bird species, including domination of food sources and competition for increasingly scarce nesting hollows.

[27] Bird species such as the purple-crowned lorikeet, the Carnaby's black cockatoo,[27] and the Australian ringneck are adversely affected or displaced.

A feral population was established in New Zealand after a resident of the North Shore, Auckland, illegally[32] released significant numbers of captive-reared birds in the area in the 1990s, which started breeding in the wild.

The Ministry for Primary Industries Bio-security, in partnership with DOC and regional councils, now manages rainbow lorikeets under the National Interest Pest Response initiative.

Every year in southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales thousands become paralysed, most significantly, unable to fly or eat.

This pattern suggests it is due to the fruits of an unknown plant, which only blooms from the spring to autumn, and most intensively in the summer.