Female Electus Parrot
by Daniel Hebard
Title
Female Electus Parrot
Artist
Daniel Hebard
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
The eclectus parrot (Eclectus roratus) is a parrot native to the Solomon Islands, Sumba, New Guinea and nearby islands, northeastern Australia and the Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is unusual in the parrot family for its extreme sexual dimorphism of the colours of the plumage; the male having a mostly bright emerald green plumage and the female a mostly bright red and purple/blue plumage. Joseph Forshaw, in his book Parrots of the World, noted that the first European ornithologists to see eclectus parrots thought they were of two distinct species. Large populations of this parrot remain, and they are sometimes considered pests for eating fruit off trees. Some populations restricted to relatively small islands are comparably rare. Their bright feathers are also used by native tribespeople in New Guinea as decorations.
orange irises and juveniles have dark brown to black irises. The upper mandible of both male and female juveniles are brown at the base fading to yellow towards the biting edges and the tip.[5]
The above description is for the nominate race. The abdomen and nape of the females are blue in most subspecies, purple abdomen and nape in the subspecies (roratus) and lavender abdomen and nape in the (vosmaeri) subspecies from the north and central Maluku Islands, and red abdomen and nape in the subspecies from Sumba and Tanimbar Islands (cornelia and riedeli). Females of two subspecies have a wide band of yellow on the tail tip, riedeli and vosmaeri which also have yellow undertail coverts. The female vosmaeri displays the brightest red of all the subspecies, both on the head and body.
Diet[edit]
The diet of the eclectus in the wild consists of mainly fruits, wild figs, unripe nuts, flower and leaf buds, and some seeds. In captivity, they eat most fruits including mangos, figs, guavas, bananas, melons, stone fruits, grapes, citrus fruits, pears, apples, pomegranate, and papaya (pawpaw). The eclectus has an unusually long digestive tract, so tolerates a high-fiber diet. In captivity, the eclectus parrot does benefit from a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, leafy greens such as endive and dandelion, and a variety of seeds, including spray millet, and a few nuts such as shelled almonds and walnuts.
Uploaded
April 21st, 2018
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Viewed 358 Times - Last Visitor from Fairfield, CT on 04/17/2024 at 6:08 AM
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Comments (13)
Brian Tada
Spectacular colors in this superb eclectus parrot portrait, Daniel! What a beautiful image! F/L
William Tasker
Lovely! Your beautiful and identified bird image has been featured by Wild Birds Of The World, a nature photography group. L/F
Randy Rosenberger
This piece of fine artwork has earned the honor of being chosen to show off to other artists and prospective buyers here in the Wisconsin Flowers and Scenery group. It is an honor to share this piece of well composed and beautiful art on our Featured section of our homepage. Thanks much for sharing! Liked and Faved Randy B. Rosenberger (administrator of the WFS group)