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Eclectus

Eclectus roratus · Psittaculidae

The most sexually dimorphic parrot in the world, and the fussiest feeder.

Native range: New Guinea, Solomon Islands, northern Australia

Length
35–42 cm
Weight
380–550 g
Lifespan
30–50 years
Maturity
3–4 years
Incubation
28 days
Clutch
2 eggs
Ring size
Not recorded
Fledge
70–80 days
Weaned
12–16 weeks
CITES
Appendix II
IUCN
LC
Taxonomic family
Psittaculidae

Diet

The critical species for diet. A long digestive tract means they need genuinely high fibre and fresh food, and they react badly to synthetic vitamin and colouring additives in many pellets. Fresh fruit and vegetables should form the bulk.

Housing

200 × 120 × 200 cm minimum; a 4 m flight for a breeding pair. Bar spacing 22–25 mm.

Temperament

Calm and deliberate rather than playful. Hens are the dominant and more aggressive sex, which is unusual and matters when pairing.

Breeding

Hens are cavity-obsessive and will spend months in a box. Clutches are almost always two eggs. Cocks may be attacked by the hen if the flight is too small.

Established mutations

Very few established; subspecies differences (Solomon Island, Vosmaeri, Aru) dominate the breeding scene rather than colour mutations.

Watch for

–Toe-tapping and wing-flipping, associated with additive-heavy diets
–Hen aggression toward the cock in confined housing
–Feather plucking, common and hard to reverse
–Vitamin A deficiency despite the bird looking well

Cocks are green, hens are red and blue. Early ornithologists described them as separate species for a century. There is no sexing ambiguity at all from fledging.

Sources

Run a pairing for this species Work out hatch dates Check the ring size

All twelve at a glance

SpeciesIncubationRingClutchLifespan
CockatielNymphicus hollandicus 19 d 5.5 mm 4–6 15–25 years
BudgerigarMelopsittacus undulatus 18 d 4.0 mm 4–6 6–12 years
Peach-faced LovebirdAgapornis roseicollis 23 d 4.5 mm 4–6 10–15 years
Green-cheeked ConurePyrrhura molinae 24 d 5.5 mm 4–6 20–30 years
Indian RingneckPsittacula krameri 23 d 7.0 mm 3–5 25–35 years
Gouldian FinchChloebia gouldiae 14 d Not recorded 4–8 5–8 years
Quaker / Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus 24 d 6.0 mm 4–6 20–30 years
Bourke's ParakeetNeopsephotus bourkii 18 d 4.0 mm 3–6 10–15 years
EclectusEclectus roratus 28 d Not recorded 2 30–50 years
Sun ConureAratinga solstitialis 25 d 7.0 mm 3–5 20–30 years
African GreyPsittacus erithacus 28 d 11.0 mm 2–4 40–60 years
Blue & Gold MacawAra ararauna 27 d 14.0 mm 2–3 50–70 years

All 94 species, with the dates scheduled against your own birds.

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