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Eclectus Information |
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Family: Psittacidae—The Eclectus unlike many other parrots belong to one genus, Eclectus, and one species defined as Roratus. Within this species there are 7 to 9 sub species. Origin: The Red-sided Eclectus is from New Guinea to the north of Australia, and is the most popular Eclectus in Australia Size: The Eclectus is a medium size parrot with a length of about 36cm (14 inches) Cage Size: Disposition: They are neither destructive or noisy, but are capable of producing a powerful noise if extremely frightened or have a behavior problem. Their destructive instinct is far less than most other mid-size parrots, but their curiosity to explore may on occasions, turn into disaster for the furniture. Vocalization: Although considered by many to be the most beautiful of the parrots, Eclectus are not just pretty birds. Rivaling the African Grey and the Amazon in clarity of speech and scope of vocabulary, Eclectus not only repeat many words and phrases but also sing songs and talk to both their human and bird companions. Many Eclectus chicks learn their first word before they are weaned, especially if the hand-feeder repeats a word to them often. Playfulness: Not the most playful of parrots. Some prefer intricate toys that they can disassemble rather than large blocks of wood to chew on. Leather strips with lots of knots for them to work on is a favored toy. Others love paper crumbled up into a ball to shred to pieces. Some people report that hanging an old phone book in the top of their cage makes for hours upon hours of entertainment for the Eclectus. Life Span: 40-50 years Age at Maturity: 3 years Nesting Sites in the Wild: She selects a nest site in a hole high up in a tall tree trunk. The entrance is usually about three inches across. Breeding Season: The Eclectus parrot has no regular breeding season. During courtship, the male pursues one female and attempts to get her attention by making excited squawking calls. When the female is ready to mate, she selects a nest site in a hole high up in a tall tree trunk. The entrance is usually about three inches across. She chews up pieces of wood with which to line the nest and makes a soft bed for the eggs. The female lays two or three eggs and incubates them without the help of the male. The male visits the nest at regular intervals during incubation and feeds the female with regurgitated food. The eggs hatch after 26 days, and the young fledge (grow feathers) and learn to fly at 12 weeks.
Wing Flipping and Toe Tapping in an Eclectus—Must read article for Eclectus owners!
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Here are the species of Eclectus These are links to read on that species or sub species
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Living with an Eclectus By Kristy Garcia Living with an Eclectus is a much different experience than living with my Amazon. They are complete opposites. Where my Amazon is a rough and tumble type of bird, playing roughhouse with his toys, my Eclectus is very serene, gentle, peaceful and a thinker. The Eclectus likes to think things through before she acts. An example would be the way they play with their toys. My Amazon dives into any new toy and has it destroyed by nightfall. Morgan, my Eclectus, will look at the new toy for a day or two and plan its destruction. Her “destruction” of a toy is quite different though. She likes toys with smaller parts like lots of knotted leather with small pieces of wood, or beads, knotted rope and anything with paper. She will remove the knots in the entire toy and simply let the pieces fall to the floor. The Amazon on the other hand will make tooth picks out of any wood on the toy and the toy will simply be disintegrated, into woodchips, tooth picks bits of leather and saw dust :-) Some people believe that once a female Eclectus reaches sexual maturity they do not make as good of pets as the male Eclectus. I do not find this true at all. Morgan is past that “puberty” age at 6 years old, has laid a few eggs, and still remains the most gentle bird to my husband. “To my husband”, these are the key words however. Morgan has her favorite person like most birds do. My husband is definitely it. Rumor is that a female Eclectus will be all hormonal and protect her nest with her life. My personal experience with a hen Eclectus on eggs? She would invite my husband to join her in her nest and would welcome him with open wings…. She was very sweet while she had eggs. Most people claim they (birds) have no attachment to eggs and we should just throw them in the garbage when they are laid as to deter the hen from laying anymore. We tried this. When we got rid of her first three eggs she had ever laid in her life, she immediately replaced them with FOUR more. We let her sit on those new 4 eggs until she gave up hope they would ever hatch…...40 DAYS!!!!!! Normally between 26 and 28 days a female would give up. Not Morgan—she wanted to be sure they were not going to hatch. She was an extremely good mom to these eggs. She would talk to them, turn them ever so gently (as she turned them she would say to them “OK, pretty bird, alright now”) and would not stay off those eggs for longer than 10 minutes at a time. It was very hard allowing her to go through this life experience. We were very concerned for her. We basically lost our Morgan for 40 days and 40 nights. We would get her out of her cage numerous times per day, but she would want back in every 10 minutes to tend to her clutch. At this time in her life, she did have that “I will kill you if you even look at my eggs” attitude towards strangers. As I stated earlier, her favorite person was still allowed in her cage with no problems at all. He was even allowed to pick up her eggs right out from underneath her! Although one time when my husband pulled an egg out from underneath her while she was happily sitting on them, she told him in a not so soft voice that he was a “BAD DOG!!!” He gently put the egg back under her and she was fine. She must watch too much TV because we do not own a dog!!! Thank goodness we made it through this whole egg laying thing without any further issues. In the future if she should ever lay anymore eggs, I think we know what to do to deter her from having more. Just let her sit a clutch out. Of course all birds are different, throwing away another females eggs may do the trick. Our experience with eggs though, was to allow her to keep them and give up on her own. PERSONALITY: Some people think that the Eclectus is actually a boring bird and not very intelligent. If you watch an Eclectus it appears they just sit like a lump on their perch and do not do too much other than the typical preening, eating and very light play. I assure you, the Eclectus is extremely smart. Mellow yes, unintelligent—no. Morgan’s every move is a very well thought out plan. Not to keep comparing an Eclectus with an Amazon, but it is a very easy analogy for me to use. When it comes to talking—my YNA will blab and blab all day long. Sometimes you wonder where on earth he learned such a large vocabulary. Morgan on the other hand is for the most part a one liner. She slips in a sentence or word here and there where appropriate. Her speech in clarity is the best I have ever heard come out of a birds beak. She is mostly a closet talker but does speak in front of us. Just not to the extent that she does when she thinks no one is within ear shot. The personality of an Eclectus is very “stable”, they are not easily scared or excitable, they are cuddly, sweet and serene . DIET: When it comes to diet—this is where the Eclectus is very different from other birds. Feeding your Eclectus may be somewhat of a challenge if you do not do it right. They have a longer digestive tract and require more complex carbs and fiber such as lots of organic greens, grains, fruits, brown rice, beans and a good pellet diet without any preservatives, artificial coloring, artificial added vitamins (fortified) etc. Many people have found that an Eclectus is sensitive to all of these added chemicals. These chemicals can build up in their systems and they can become allergic to the food you feed them. They can develop “itchy” types of reactions which sometimes cause odd feather colors and can cause them to start destroying their feathers as well. They can also start to toe tap or something that is called wing flipping. Both of these conditions are involuntary and some research has shown that too many pesticides/chemicals in their foods, metal toxicity, chemicals and food allergies are most often to blame. To see the diet I feed my Eclectus and have had very good luck with, click here. I can not possibly end unless I touch on the BEAUTY aspect of an Eclectus. It is a good thing my Amazon can not read—because I am about to put in print—that I think the female Eclectus is one of the most beautiful birds in the word. Their colors are electrifying………..strikingly so! If you have not had the opportunity to see an Eclectus in person, I urge you to add this bird to your “must see” list :-) Pictures just do not do them justice. Here is a wonderful website about how to properly take care of the Eclectus. And here is a wonderful place to get proper food for an Eclectus
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Morgan—Solomon Island Eclectus Owned by club member Kristy Garcia |
Eclectus Quick Facts |
