Eclectus parrots have physical features that make them uniquely beautiful, such as the head and breast feathers that resemble silky hair more than feathers. Their feather colors are brighter and more vibrant looking than the colors of most other parrot species. The brilliant shade of emerald green and the natural sheen of the Eclectus males' feathers make the green of the Amazon parrot look dull and lifeless in comparison. The candy corn beak of the male Eclectus is simply stunning! The Eclectus females have a kaleidoscope of brilliant colors including clear daisy yellow, cobalt blue, lavender to deep purple, and bright crimson red to a deep burgundy color. The female Eclectus is considered one of the most beautiful birds in the world. I have always thought that the Eclectus parrot is the best of everything that intrigues us about parrots -- presented in two beautiful packages!

The intuitive instincts of the Eclectus serve them well in many ways. Because they can so easily read our moods, we bond with them on a deeper level than with most other pets and therefore feel more loyalty and devotion toward them than to other animal companions. I consider this is an especially desirable quality and I believe it is responsible for the fact that fewer Eclectus parrots are passed from home to home than other parrot species.

The Eclectus males are difficult to identify unless one is familiar with the identifying characteristics of the males of all the Eclectus subspecies. It is particularly helpful to observe specimen of several subspecies together for the sake of comparison. The difference in the hue, shade or tint of green is helpful for identifying the subspecies of the male Eclectus. The fluorescent yellow-green of the Vosmaeri male is obviously a lighter shade than the deep blue-green of the Red sided male. This characteristic is not useful to the novice observing only one subspecies. The longer neck and tail of the Vosmaeri male is a helpful trait for the purpose of identification, and the small size overall of the Solomon Island male is helpful. The Grand male is not easily identified because identification is made by subtle differences in beak color, tail length and tail tip color and this require an experienced eye.

The subspecies of the female Eclectus is more easily determined. The Vosmaeri female is readily identifiable by her daisy-yellow tail band, the clear yellow "V" in the vent area, and the absence of a blue eye ring. The Red sided and Solomon Island females can be identified by their cobalt blue breast with a definite bib rather than the gradual blending of the breast colors of the Vosmaeri female. Also, a ring of blue feathers surrounding the eye is an easy identification characteristic of the Red sided and Solomon Island females. The Grand female has neither the wide, clear yellow tail band of the Vosmaeri female, nor the solid red tail of the Red sided and Solomon Island female, but rather a narrow tipping of dull yellow-orange.

"A toy destroyed is a toy enjoyed"! Although Eclectus parrots are known for less destructive chewing habits than many parrot species, they do enjoy whittling soft wood, which is important for beak health. Shredding paper and other material is another favorite activity that can prevent feather destruction engaged in by bored birds of all species. Eclectus also enjoy destroying small pieces of soft wood, hand-held toys, and rolls of adding machine paper placed on top of their cage and threaded down through the cage bars for busy beaks to enjoy. They are adept at untying knots in leather, cloth and other flexible material, and they are excellent avian mechanics when it comes to unscrewing nuts and bolts and dismantling toys. (They are also known for dismantling metal locks and one male Eclectus recently died from complications after swallowing a zinc washer from a metal lock.)

Toy boxes are a great idea because the intelligent Eclectus quickly tires of the same old toys every day. Rubbermaid tubs, laundry baskets, or untreated wicker baskets can be used as toy boxes. Cage toys should be rotated at least once a week and allowing the Eclectus to choose his weekly supply of toys from the toy box is fun for the bird and helps to prevent boredom when confined to the cage. Flea markets and garage sales are great places to find used quality toys in good condition. They often cost less than a dollar each and sometimes perfectly good infant and toddler toys are sold for 25 cents each. They can be sterilized in a dishwasher and in a bathtub or Jacuzzi with a tablespoonful of Grapefruit Seed Extract or 10% Clorox for disinfection. Interactive toys such as V-Tech phones are another favorite. Toys that can be manipulated to make noise or music fascinate Eclectus parrots.

FOOD TOYS

The Eclectus parrot's love of food, plus their playful nature, makes food a perfect toy. "Food toys" provide not only hours of enjoyment but nutrients as well. Some of the favorite food toys of my Eclectus are:

• Coconut halves hung in the aviary. The birds pick the fibers off the shell and dig out the coconut meat to eat and to shred for fun.
• Whole bags of salt-free popped corn. Use brown paper lunch bags with a quarter cup of plain popcorn. Fold down the top of the bag to seal, and microwave it until the popping stops. Hang in the aviary and the birds will chew holes in the bag to get to the treats.
• Whole fruits and veggies like apples, oranges, pears, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, broccoli spears, cucumbers, bell peppers, whole beets with attached greens, whole hands of ginger, and pumpkin quarters with seeds, can be strung up in the cage or skewered on ‘shish-ka-bobs’ made for that purpose. While the birds tear them apart piece by piece, much as they would destroy food in the wild, they also eat some of the food.

Birds in homes where flight is completely safe are lucky indeed because flying is the natural exercise which Mother Nature provided for her winged creatures. Most pet owners have neither a large flight cage for safe flying nor a home floor plan that prevents flighted birds from getting to an open door or window. Therefore, wing clips are necessary for most of our Eclectus parrots. There are several wing-clip styles from which to choose and all are detailed below.

When I first had Eclectus babies available for adoption, I sent them home with the "pretty clip" which was popular at the time. This clip leaves the first three primary flight feathers on each wing uncut and the next five primary flight feathers cut short. When the wings are folded, one cannot tell that the bird is clipped and they look perfectly natural with no cut feather ends showing. I used this clip until the adoptive parent of one of my babies watched her new young redhead fly off into the woods when she was startled by the loud noise of a lawn chair being opened. Four harrowing hours later, the bird was miraculously found in a very tall tree in a densely wooded area frequented by hawks and other predators. The frantic new owner managed to get the bird back and we all were made painfully aware of just how dangerous the "pretty clip" really is.

After that frightening experience, I started doing gradual wing clips by first cutting the two outermost primary flight feathers close to the major coverts and test flying the birds; then I would cut another two feathers close to the coverts and give another test flight. After cutting one additional feather on each side until the bird was able only to fly downward and land about ten to fifteen feet away without gaining altitude, the clip was finished.

Gradually it became apparent that cutting Eclectus flight feathers just below the major coverts left the cut ends located at the most sparsely feathered area of the birds' sides. If a birds' sides are irritated by the cut feather ends, there is a risk of feather chewing which can lead to feather plucking. By cutting the feathers about an inch and a half longer, the cut ends will be located in the most densely feathered part of the bird's sides. This cushions the cut feather ends, making them much less irritating to the bird and thereby decreasing the chances of feather plucking due to irritation. This is the clip that I use for my birds.

There is yet another way that makes the cut feather ends even less irritating than the wing clips detailed thus far. This is the clip recommended by Bobbi Brinker for African Greys. The primary flight feathers are clipped so that the cut ends of the feathers are "sandwiched" between the upper wing coverts (the short overlapping feathers that cover the base of the flight feathers on the top of the wing) and the underwing coverts on the underside of the wing. If the cut feather ends are sandwiched between the upper and lower coverts, they do not poke into the bird's side and cause irritation and possibly plucking. See an illustration at the first link posted below.

"Towel the bird and place him on his back. Open the wing. Carefully clip the flight from the underside of the wing so that the cut end is above the level of the coverts. Gently lift each flight feather and push away the coverts so that the coverts are not accidentally clipped. Clip the flight at the point where the feather barbules begin on the shaft of the flight feather."

Wing clipping 101 -- Excellent illustration of blood feathers and clipping
http://www.parrottalk.com/wings.html

There is NO clip that will prevent escapes into the outdoors if a birds' wing clip is not checked and updated frequently. Most escapes occur when a wing clip has grown out without the owner's realization. When we do our birds' wing clips, we are responsible for making sure that we don't clip blood feathers. They are easily recognizable. Basically, avoid cutting any feather with a soft and swollen blood-filled portion that is bluish in color. To protect a blood feather, some recommend leaving another feather on each side of it for support.

Please do not under any circumstances give an Eclectus or other parrot the "one-wing clip". Many accidents were caused by this clip that leaves a bird so unbalanced that it will almost surely crash into something if flight is attempted

You can create your own custom dry food mix very easily. Here are some of the advantages of creating your own custom seed mix.

• It is less expensive than ordering online and paying shipping.
• You can use organically-grown ingredients rather than foods treated with pesticides and other chemicals.
• The mix can be tailored to the individual food preferences of your birds.
• You can vary the mix from batch to batch.
• Instead of buying a ready mix with sulphur treated dry fruit or veggies, you can add organically grown "Just Fruit" and/or "Just Veggies" with no sulphur, salt, or sweetener.

One Eclectus owner shared a detailed price breakdown of her first custom mix.

Charly said, "With seed list in hand I went off yesterday during my lunch hour to the health food store. This is what I got. All one pound bags except where indicated. With all that I got it worked out to 21 ½ pounds. And that works out to $2.57 per pound."

• Organic millet $1.29
• Organic Quinoa $2.59
• Organic spelt $1.49
• Unhulled sesame $1.99
• Organic Flax Seed $1.59
• Raw pumpkin seeds $3.99
• Raw Sunflower seeds $1.59
• Barley pearled $.69
• Whole oat groats $.99
• Buckwheat groats $2.69
• Short grain Brown Rice $1.29 (1 1/2lb.)
• Wheat Berries $1.29
• Poppy Seeds $1.79
• Unsweetened unsulphured coconut $1.99 (1 ½ pounds)

Total for seed/coconut $25.26

• No-salt soynuts $1.99
• Filberts $4.99 on sale for $3.49
• Walnut pieces $3.99
• Raw Almonds $4.99
• Pecan halves $6.99 (15oz.)
• Unsulphured low sugar pineapple $3.29
• Unsulphured low sugar papaya $3.29

Total for nuts/fruits $28.03

• Puffed wheat .99 only used ½ bag
• Puffed rice .99 only used ½ bag

Total for cereal $1.98

For a grand total of $55.27 which is $2.57 per pound.

Use the lists below to choose the ingredients of your custom mix.

• Milk thistle seeds
• Shelled sunflower seed
• Unshelled sunflower seed
• Wheat berries
• Whole oats
• Barley
• Spelt
• Quinoa
• Dried pumpkin seeds RAW (expensive)
• Dried squash seeds
• Dried cantaloupe seeds
• Sesame seeds (unhulled if you can find them)
• Flax seeds
• Rice
• Milo
• Corn
• Buckwheat
• Poppy seed
• Sesame seed
• Millet (red, yellow, white)

• Hemp seed
• Cockatiel mix
• Canary mix
• Parakeet mix
• Millet sprays

• Almonds
• Pine nuts
• Pecans
• Walnuts
• Cashews
• Hazelnuts (filberts)
• Macadamia nuts
• Pistachios
• Coconut shreds
• Soy "nuts"

• "Just Fruits"
• "Just Veggies"
• Banana chips
• Papaya chunks
• Pineapple slices
• Apple dices
• Apricots
• Cranberries (sugarless are hard to find)
• Cherries
• Raisins
• Currants
• Green peas
• Chili peppers

• Coconut shreds
• Nuts (on sale after Fall & Winter holidays)
• Sesame seeds
• Sunflower seeds (raw)
• Dried peppers
• Dried fruits (unsulphured)
• Cereals (non-fortified, sugar and salt free)