Adult males and females differ in color. Around New Guinea, the species uses coastal forest and edges and moves in small flocks to feed on flowers; records of its wild diet are limited.
In the nominate subspecies, the male has a red forehead and blue-purple ear coverts, with a green tail tipped yellow. The female has a green forehead and ear coverts, and red markings on the upper tail coverts.
Its wild diet is poorly documented, but pollen and nectar from flowers in tall trees are reported. Small flocks fly over forest and may feed alongside other lorikeet species at canopy flowers.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.