About Eclectus roratus polychloros (Scopoli, 1786)
The Moluccan eclectus parrot is unusual among parrots for its extremely prominent visible sexual dimorphism in plumage color. It is a stocky, short-tailed parrot that reaches approximately 35 cm (14 inches) in total length. Males are mostly bright green, with a yellow tint on the head. They have blue primary flight feathers, plus red flanks and red underwing coverts. Their tail has a narrow creamy yellow edge; the underside of the tail is dark grey with a creamy yellow edge. Tail feathers are green in the center, becoming bluer toward their edges. Females, also called grand Eclectus, are mostly bright red, with a darker red shade on the back and wings. The mantle and underwing coverts darken to a more purple color, and the wing edge is mauve-blue. The top edge of the female tail is yellowish-orange, while the underside is more orange with a yellow tip. The upper mandible of an adult male is orange at the base, fading to yellow toward the tip, and the lower mandible is entirely black. The beak of an adult female is all black. Adult birds have yellow to orange irises, while juvenile birds have dark brown to black irises. For both male and female juveniles, the upper mandible is brown at the base, fading to yellow toward the biting edges and tip. In most eclectus subspecies, females have blue abdomen and nape; the nominate subspecies E. r. roratus has purple abdomen and nape, and E. r. vosmaeri has lavender abdomen and nape. Females of E. r. riedeli and E. r. vosmaeri also have yellow undertail coverts. Female E. r. vosmaeri have the brightest red plumage on both the head and body out of all eclectus subspecies. Moluccan eclectus do not typically develop clear speaking voices until they reach one year of age. A blue color mutation, caused by a recessive gene, has appeared in eclectus parrots kept in aviculture. In this mutation, male birds are light blue, while female birds have a combination of dark blue, white, and grey plumage.
