BirdUp · Species
Moluccan Eclectus
Eclectus roratus(Müller, PLS, 1776)
- Order
- PSITTACIFORMES
- Family
- Psittaculidae
- Genus
- Eclectus
- Commonness
- Common
- Best seen
- Year-round
01 · Identification
How to tell it apart
The Moluccan eclectus is a parrot native to the Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is unusual in the parrot order for its extreme sexual dimorphism of the colours of the plumage; the male having a mostly bright emerald green plumage and the female a mostly bright red and purple/blue plumage. 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 remain, and they are sometimes considered pests for eating fruit off trees. Some populations restricted to relatively small islands are comparably rare. Their bright feathers are also used by native tribespeople in New Guinea as decorations.
Description · wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
02 · Where
Where to find it
- Breeding range
- North and central Moluccas
03 · When
When to look
Months this species is recorded across its Australian range.
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
05 · Behaviour
Habits and haunts
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