The ten subspecies of the Eclectus parrot are Vosmaeri, roratus, westermani, cornelia, riedeli, polychloros, biaki, aruensis, macgillivrayi, solomonensis.  Eclectus in the wild inhabit the tropical rainforest and monsoon forests of northern Cape York Peninsula, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, northern Australia and the Indonesian Archipelago.  Their nests can be found very high up in the trees of the forests hidden within deep cavities of the tree trunks.

Eclectus differ from other parrots in that they are sexually dimorphic which means that the two genders are visually different from each other.  The males are a bright, vibrant green with deep royal blue on outer wing shoulders and deep shades of crimson on the sides of body and the undersides of the wings.  The eyes are black and beaks are orange fading to yellow at tip of the beak not unlike candy corn.  The female's body is a gorgeous beautiful red, with areas of blue and purple.  The beaks are black and the eyes are yellow.  If you ever get a chance to see an Eclectus in person, please be sure to take a close look at their feathering.  It is like no other parrot that I know of. The feathers look like beautiful, silken, and shiny hair.

Eclectus require a high amount of beta-carotene.  Beta-carotene is a phytonutrient cartenoid known as a “provitamin A” compound (or Vitamin A pre-cursor) which is converted in the body into retinol, an active form of Vitamin A.  In its pure form, beta-carotene is orangish or yellowish in color and combines itself with the 50ish other phytonutrients.  Beta-carotene is present in a wide array of fruits and vegetables that are pigmented orange, yellow, pink, red, dark green and white.  This phytonutrient is considered a non-toxic form of Vitamin A due to the fact that the body will only convert as much of the beta-carotene that it needs and will never store excess amounts in the liver or in body fat.  Dealing With Vitamin A Deficiency in Birds by Hannis L. Stoddard, III, DVM is an excellent article and has a chart of foods both high and low in beta-carotene.  The Healthy Eating Club site has an informative food data chart that you might want to check out too.

Eclectus parrots have a longer digestive tract than other parrots and require special dietary considerations.  They need to be fed a soft food mixture twice a day and need to have at least two different types of 'greens' everyday  Mature eclectus need to have their intake of fat monitored.  Frequent feeding of foods high in fat like nut and seeds can cause fatty liver disease, fatty tumors and coronary disease.  This does not mean no fats or oils at all, but monitored amounts of fats and oils which are needed for absorption of retinol a.k.a. Vitamin A.  Young eclectus need a little higher fat content in their diet due to their level of activity, and, juvenile and mature alike, need more dietary fiber and vegetable protein in their diet.  High fiber foods I feed my flock are in the form of green and red vegetables.  Excellent sources of vegetable protein can be found in barely sprouted seeds and beans, barely sprouted sunflower seeds, soaked almonds which also provide calcium, cooked brown rice and beans.

I have been using Quickon MultiVitamin for over 7 years now and cannot say enough about this product.   I use it in my weaning formula and all soft foods for my flock.  I have not had a problem with stress marks on my babies feathering at all.  The plumage on my flock is flawless and they are all healthy, bright, and of great vigor.  Orchard Tree Exotics carries the full line of Quicko products.

Please feel free to write me if you have any questions about my flock, my feeding regimen or the availability of fully weaned chicks ready for a forever home.

Check these web sites out for more information

     Carolyn Swicegood's Land of Vos Faq's

     Eclectus Articles and Information by Carolyn Swicegood

     Eclectus Article at EclectusVille site

     Lexicon of Parrots Eclectus Information

     Eclectus Overview by Constance Bacon

     Australia Aviary's Food and Recipes

     Anatomy of birds, wing clipping, and illnesses

     Cage Safety at BirdSafe

     Use Vinegar to kill mold, bacteria, and germs

     Food Pyramid for Parrots

     Psittaculturist - Parrot Breeding and Links

     Toxic and Safe Plants for Parrots

     Dr. D's Avi-Sci Pellets. Highly recommended by my flock

     Orchard Tree Exotics carries Quickon Multivitamin and is highly recommended by my flock

     Quinoa Article by Gudrun Maybaum

     Illness and Injuries: Bird Emergencies

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