Eclectus

Male (left) and female eclectus parrot Eclectus roratus, copyright Doug Janson.

Belongs within: Psittaculidae.

The eclectus parrot Eclectus roratus is a large parrot found in New Guinea and neighbouring islands, as well as in the northeasternmost part of Australia. The species is strongly sexually dimorphic, with males bright green and females red.

Characters (from Rutgers & Norris 1972): Male a rather large heavy bird with a short square tail; general body plumage bright dark green. Shoulders bright sky bule; outer edges of wing primaries deep ultramarine blue; under wing coverts and flanks bright red; feathers of vent and under tail coverts with bright yellow green tips; upper sides of tail feathers green with royal blue outer edges and white tips, under sides darkest brown with yellow tips. Iris orange-yellow; upper mandible coral with yellowish tip, lower mandible black; feet grey. Female with overall body plumage rich red, with wide blue abdominal band and blue collar on upper back; shoulders, outer edges of wing primaries and under wing coverts bright blue; tail red on upper side, pale brown with orange tips underneath. Iris pale yellow; bill black; feet grey. Call a harsh rolling screech.

Eclectus Wagler 1832 [Eclectini] B94
    `--E. roratus J06 [=Lorius roratus RN72]
         |--E. r. roratus RN72
         |--E. r. aruensis RN72
         |--E. r. biaki RN72
         |--E. r. cornelia RN72
         |--E. r. goodsoni RN72
         |--E. r. macgilivrayi RN72
         |--E. r. maforensis RN72
         |--E. r. pectoralis J06 [incl. Polyckloros magnus S13]
         |--E. r. polychloros J06
         |--E. r. riedeli J06
         |--E. r. solomonensis RN72
         `--E. r. vosmaeri RN72

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.

[J06] Johnstone, R. E. 2006. The birds of Gag Island, Western Papuan islands, Indonesia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 23 (2): 115–132.

[RN72] Rutgers, A., & K. A. Norris (eds.) 1972. Encyclopaedia of Aviculture vol. 2. Blandford Press: London.

[S13] Sarasin, F. 1913. Die Vögel Neu-Caledoniens und der Loyalty-Inseln. In: Sarasin, F., & J. Roux (eds) Nova Caledonia: Forschungen in Neu-Caledonian und auf den Loyalty-Inseln. A. Zoologie vol. 1 pt 1 pp. 1–78, pls 1–3. C. W. Kreidels Verlag: Wiesbaden.