Eclectus Parrot
The male is green and the female is red, and for a century the two were catalogued as separate species. Quiet for a parrot, and a fruit eater above all.
Overview
The eclectus is the parrot where the male and the female look like different species. Males are brilliant green with a yellow crown and blue primaries. Females are red, with deep burgundy across the wing coverts. For most of the nineteenth century they were classified separately.
They come from New Guinea, Indonesia and northern Australia, weigh 500 to 600 g, and live 23 to 28 years in captivity with some passing 30. In the wild they may reach fifty.
Temperament
Calm, deliberate and quieter than most parrots of the size. Eclectus are watchers rather than performers, and they talk unusually clearly.
The breeding system explains a lot about the female. Eclectus are polyandrous: a female holds a nest hollow and several males provision her and the chicks. Captive females can be strongly territorial about a nest site or anything that resembles one, including a dark corner of a cupboard, and that behaviour is the species working correctly rather than a fault.
Care and grooming
This is the parrot whose diet is genuinely different. Eclectus have a longer digestive tract than other parrots and are fed a diet much higher in fresh fruit and vegetables and lower in pellet than an Amazon or a grey would get.
Over supplementation is the specific risk here, and it is worth taking seriously: indiscriminate vitamin supplementation causes vitamin A toxicosis and reduces the absorption of other fat soluble vitamins. Eclectus fed heavily fortified pellets plus supplements can show toe tapping and wing flipping.
Living and exercise
36 by 24 by 48 inches minimum, with room to stretch a wingspan fully, and several hours out daily.
The feathers are unusual in structure, hair like and easily damaged, so perches and toys are chosen with fewer abrasive surfaces than for a chewing parrot. They are less destructive than most parrots of their size, which makes the cage last longer and the day emptier if nothing else is provided.
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