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12

Eclectus Parrot (Eclectus roratus) Alternate name(s): "Red-sided Parrot", "Rocky River Parrot" Size: 42-48 cm (male), 40-45 cm (female) Weight: 480-620 g

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Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Eclectus Parrots are big parrots. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Male Eclectus Parrots are primarily green, with scarlet side patches and underwings and blue leading edges of the wings and flight feathers. The undertail is brown. They have a bill with an orange upper mandible and a black lower one. Females are scarlet and blue, with a scarlet head, throat, upper chest, vent and leg feathers. The mantle is blue and the upperwings are dark-scarlet with a blueish tint. The lower chest and belly are dark-blue. The wings have a blue leading edge. The tail is a dark scarlet. Females have an entirely black bill. Both sexes have dark-grey legs and feet.

Taxonomy, classification See Eclectus Parrot at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Eclectus Parrot is available HERE . The range of the Eclectus Parrot is limited to a number of islands in far south-eastern Asia, ranging from Timor Leste in the West, via West Papua and Papua to Papua New Guinea and on, eastwards to the Solomon Islands. They are also occasionally found on Cape York peninsula in far-northern Australia. In Australia, Eclectus Parrots, race "polychloros", are found on islands along the Torres Strait towards Papua New Guinea. Race "macgillivrayi" occurs naturally only in a small area along the East coast of Cape York peninsula, QLD, from about Iron Range NP to Yarraden Forest Reserve. Eclectus Parrots are usually found in dense forest, mostly in rainforest.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "macgillivrayi" B. Hensen reports spotting Eclectus Parrots, race "macgillivrayi", at Iron Range NP, QLD, in December 2018. All sighting and photographic information obtained in nature presented on this page has been kindly contributed by B. Hensen. Other photos below show birds in captivity.

Photos

Race "macgillivrayi"

ADULT

MALE

Distant lateral view of a male Eclectus Parrot in flight (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Iron Range NP, QLD, December 2018]

Frontal view of a male Eclectus Parrot taken in captivity (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Near-frontal view of a male Eclectus Parrot taken in captivity (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Lateral view of a male Eclectus Parrot taken in captivity (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)

Near-dorsal view of a male Eclectus Parrot taken in captivity (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Near-dorsal view of a male Eclectus Parrot taken in captivity (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Pair of Eclectus Parrots taken in captivity; male on the left, female on the right (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)

FEMALE

Near-lateral/ventral view of a female Eclectus Parrot (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Iron Range NP, QLD, December 2018]

Lateral/ventral view of a female Eclectus Parrot (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Iron Range NP, QLD, December 2018]

Frontal view of a female Eclectus Parrot; photo taken with friendly permission of its owners

Lateral view of a female Eclectus Parrot; photo taken with friendly permission of its owners

Dorsal view of a female Eclectus Parrot; photo taken with friendly permission of its owners

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Juvenile male Eclectus Parrot at 16 weeks of age (photo courtesy of D. Madden)

Breeding information

Breeding season: Jul - Jan

Eggs: 2

Incubation period: 26 days

Fledging age: ca. 15 days

Nest building: ?

Incubation: Female

Dependent care: Female

As many other parrot species, the male Eclectus Parrot feeds the female while incubating and brooding the chicks. Eclectus Parrots are often assisted by birds from earlier broods.

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Tree hollow

Material: Lining?

Height above ground: 10 - 30 m

Frontal view of a female Eclectus Parrot peeking out of its nesting hollow (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Iron Range NP, QLD, December 2018]

Lateral view of a female Eclectus Parrot leaving its nesting hollow (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Iron Range NP, QLD, December 2018]

Female Eclectus Parrot in captivity at the opening of its nesting hollow (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)

In captivity, in the absence of external threats, female Eclectus Parrots will nest - and produce offspring - in ground hollows (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 42 x 33 mm

Colour: White

Shape: Rounded

Food, Diet

Eclectus Parrots are fruit-eaters.

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

eclect_20140722.mp3

(in captivity)

Contact call? (female)

© MD

More Eclectus Parrot sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Sat, 2 January 2021, 20:25 +00:00