Eclectus parrot facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Eclectus parrot |
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| Male (green) and female (red) at Singapore Zoo | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Eclectus
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| Species: |
roratus
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The Eclectus parrot (Eclectus roratus) is a beautiful and unique parrot. These colorful birds live in places like the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, parts of northeastern Australia, and the Maluku Islands. An adult Eclectus parrot is usually about 35 centimeters (14 inches) long.
Contents
What Do Eclectus Parrots Look Like?
Eclectus parrots are special because the males and females look very different. This is unusual for most bird species!
Male Eclectus Parrots
Male Eclectus parrots are mostly bright green. They have a bit of yellow on their heads. Their wing feathers are blue, and their sides and under their wings are red. Their tails are creamy yellow, with green and blue feathers. Adult males have an orange upper beak.
Female Eclectus Parrots
Female Eclectus parrots are mostly bright red. Their backs and wings are a darker red, sometimes even purple. Their tails are yellowish-orange. Adult females have an all-black beak. Young Eclectus parrots have brown and yellow beaks.
Why Are Their Colors So Different?
In most bird species, the males are usually brightly colored to attract females, while females are often duller to help them camouflage and protect their eggs. However, Eclectus parrots are the opposite! Scientists believe this might be because of how they live in their natural habitat, where the female's bright red color helps her stand out near her nest in dark tree hollows.
What Do Eclectus Parrots Eat?
In the wild, Eclectus parrots enjoy eating fruits, wild figs, unripe nuts, flower and leaf buds, and some seeds. They have a long digestive system, which helps them digest food with lots of fiber.
If kept as pets, Eclectus parrots need a special diet. They eat specially made pellets, lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. They can also have a small amount of nuts like almonds and walnuts.
How Do Eclectus Parrots Raise Their Young?
In their natural habitat, Eclectus parrots build their nests inside holes in large rainforest trees. The males sometimes fly very far, up to 20 kilometers (about 12 miles), to find food.
Female Eclectus parrots usually lay two white eggs. The eggs are incubated (kept warm) for about 28 to 30 days until they hatch. The young chicks stay in the nest until they are about 11 weeks old. Eclectus parrots usually become old enough to have their own babies when they are 2 to 3 years old.
Eclectus parrot mothers are very caring. If you give an abandoned egg from another type of parrot to an Eclectus female, she will often accept it. She will then incubate the egg and even raise the chick as if it were her own!
Eclectus Parrots as Pets
Eclectus parrots are popular pets because they are generally calm birds. They are also easy to breed in captivity. However, it can be tricky to hand-feed young Eclectus parrot chicks.
It's hard to know exactly how long Eclectus parrots live as pets. This is because they only became popular pets in large numbers in the 1980s. Some people say they can live for 30 years. The longest officially recorded lifespan for an Eclectus parrot was 28.5 years, but some have been reported to live even longer, up to 40.8 years!
Images for kids
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A female Eclectus parrot at North Carolina Zoo.
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An adult male Eclectus parrot.
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A seven-week-old male Eclectus chick.
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An adult female Eclectus parrot at Rosamond Gifford Zoo, USA.
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A young male Eclectus parrot kept as a pet.
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An Eclectus parrot egg.
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