The Eclectus parrot is rivaled as one of the most brilliant parrots. Both male and female are full of beautiful colors from red contrasted by and almost electric blue to green contrasted by bright yellow.
These colors make them among the most sexually dimorphistic birds. The female of the species boasts a fire engine red head with electric blue chest and a black beak where as the male is covered with a bright jade green and bright yellow beaks.
Eclectus parrots are native to Solomon Islands, New Guinea, northeastern Australia and the Maluki Islands. In New Guinea many of the people consider Eclectus parrots to be pests because there numbers are so great which leaves the people and birds competing for the same fruits and berries. Often times the people of New Guinea will shoot the parrots with sling shots and the use there feathers as decoration.
Eclectus parrots are very strong fliers, flying high above the canopies in small groups as they search for food. Just before roosting at night Eclectus parrots will perform in display flights, almost like dancing in the air.
Eclectus parrots have two distinctive calls they use. One is used during flight and is a more screech like call that is repeated several times. The other is used during feeding and is more of a cry mellow call. They also have a very well established ability of speech imitation. They are able to learn a vast vocabulary that rivals the African Grey parrot, on top of that they can learn songs and love to sing.
Interesting facts about Eclectus Parrots
Feeding the Eclectus parrots fortified foods such as pellets, and breads can lead to the phenomena known as toe-tapping and wing flapping. This is because they have a longer than normal digestive tract that is very sensitive to food additives. This may become a problem in Eclectus parrots kept as pets.
The eclectus parrot, like all parrots, eats fruits, seeds, and nuts but there favorite fruit is the pomegranate. The pomegranate is an almost peach looking fruit that is filled with seeds held together by a fleshy white meat. The pomegranate is a seasonal fruit and is only available for a very limited amount of time making it difficult for Eclectus parrot owners to acquire, however Eclectus parrots are very partial to corn which is almost always readily available. It is thought that they enjoy corn so much because of its bright yellow color and that corn can be an interesting food to peel.
