There is no denying that the eclectus parrots are beautiful birds. A male and female together are very striking in appearance. Of course, two males together and two females together are also very striking, but in a different way.

In case you do not know these birds, I am referring to the completely different colours between the male eclectus and the female eclectus. Originally, they were thought to be two completely different species.

The male eclectus is all green with his wings closed, when when he flaps his wings, you can see a bright red along his side and the undersides of his wings. His upper beak is the colour of a candy corn. The female eclectus is red, blue and purple in varying shades and has a black beak.

Thanks to Gwen Toews of Toews Parrot Place for this picture of four beautiful eclectus. One of the males even decided to show off the red under his wings for us.

The different colours indicate that these birds are sexually dimorphic, which means that you can tell the males from the females, just by looking at them.

There are several sub species of Eclectus, but the most commonly bred in North America are the vosmaerie and the red sided.

Eclectus parrots are good talkers. They have a very soft, sweet voice that is clear and easy to understand what they are saying. They are also very good at mimicking sound effects and with an eclectus parrot in the house, you may be answering the telephone when no one is calling you.


Here are two more pictures showing a male and female a little closer. Thanks to Gwen again from Toews Parrot Place for the picture of the male Ivan and to Stefanja at Out of the Blue Eclectus for the picture of the female Dharma.

The main diet for these birds should be fruits and vegetables. Pellets are not recommended for them unless they are not artifically coloured and they should have nuts, seeds, beans and some high fiber people food or items cooked for them. If you are interested in these beautiful birds, please do as much research as possible on their diet before bringing one home.

The cage should be as large as your can afford and have room for, the same as any other pet bird. A good cage may cost more than the bird itself.

Eclectus are generally very quiet birds. There are always exceptions with any bird species of course, but they seem to enjoy talking quiety more than screaming.