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Doug J | all galleries >> Birds, Birds, Birds >> Non-passeriformes Gallery > Eclectus Parrots - Male (left) & Female
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Eclectus Parrots - Male (left) & Female

Scientific name: Eclectus roratus
Order: Psittaciformes

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The Eclectus Parrot is a parrot native to the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, northeastern Australia and the Maluku Islands (Moluccas).

It is unusual in the parrot family for its extreme sexual dimorphism. The males of bright green,reddish-orange, yellow-tipped upper mandibles and black lower mandibles, and blue or red tail and wing feathers; while the females have red heads and blue to purple breasts, with black beaks. Joseph Forshaw, in his book Parrots of the World, noted that the first European ornithologists to see Eclectus Parrots thought they were of two distinct species.

Large populations of this parrot exist in Papua New Guinea, where they are sometimes considered pests for eating fruit off trees. Their bright feathers are also used by native tribespeople as decorations.


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Patricia Cannaerts06-May-2011 19:31
Gorgeous !!!!