The World of Eclectus Parrots
The World of Eclectus Parrots
The World of Eclectus Parrots
Background
In writing about the four Eclectus subspecies commonly available in the European Union,
I am writing from personal experience with breeding pairs, hand-rearing of babies from
Day 1, hand-rearing many from 3 to 4 weeks old and having parent birds rear and fledge
young. In addition, I have held back youngsters from these different upbringings and
observed their development into adults. I have taken every opportunity to discuss
experiences with other Eclectus owners and breeders.
Over the past 10 years, I have consulted with many Eclectus owners who had various
questions or problems with their birds. After being introduced to Eclectus parrots in the
early 1980s, I made the decision to specialize in working with these birds and soon
discovered a serious lack of readily available information of the distinguishing
characteristics of the various subspecies. In order to be as accurate as possible regarding
the physical characteristics of subspecies, I studied many skins of Eclectus in the
collections of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and the Museum of Natural History in
New York, which were collected from their native habitats. All of my comments on
Eclectus subspecies characteristics are based on studies of these skins because they form
the only accurate data on which to base judgments about the various Eclectus
subspecies.
The second way they are different is in the hair-like quality of their feathers on their
heads, necks, breasts and bellies. Each feather is composed of single strands that are not
locked together as contour feathers normally are. Each contour feather on the back, and
the wing and tail feathers are formed the way such feathers are on most other parrots,
as interlocked feather vanes.
Eclectus have special needs that include avoiding the caging or crating of two Eclectus in
a small enclosure under any circumstance. All Eclectus parrots, once they are fully
feathered, should be crated separately for shipping, each bird in its own compartment.
Placing two Eclectus together in a crate, whether they are young siblings, clutch mates or
a bonded breeding pair, is an invitation to disaster. The combination of unfamiliar
confinement, strange noises and events, coupled with a fear response will generally lead
to aggression and attack by one or both of the crated bids, resulting in major injuries or
death.
For instance, the old-timer advice to people with an unbonded and uncooperative pair
was to lock them in the nest together, and they will settle their differences. This is a
dangerous piece of advice that betrays a great deal of ignorance about the characteristic
behaviors of adult Eclectus parrots.
A normal, healthy adult female Eclectus owns her nest and in a crate creates an
environment similar to a nest. When a pair of Eclectus are crated together, the hen
wants the male to leave the crate because she knows he does not belong there. He also
knows he does not belong and is anxious to leave, but cannot. In even the happiest of
Eclectus parrot pairs, fighting then occurs, which can result in injury or death. Therefore,
avoid the stress and danger of this situation by always crating each bird in its own
individual compartment for shipping or even for driving a short distance across town to
the veterinarian’s office.
Companion Birds
Eclectus parrots are charming companions as pets, demanding little and giving much.
Eclectus do not make the incessant daily demands for handling and love that cockatoos
do, nor do they hang on the cage and expect to be let out of the cage as soon as you
walk in the door, unless that is what you have trained them to do! Eclectus parrots are
typically not noisy, screaming birds unless the environment and your management
practices develop those behaviors. Eclectus do best in good-sized cages, at least 3 feet
wide by 2 feet deep for one bird. Pet birds need a basic diet of good-quality fed on a
routine basis. You cannot expect an Eclectus to be fed one day at 7 in the morning and
the next day at noon, varying the diet from pasta and grapes one day to apples, corn
and birdie treats on the next day.
Eclectus parrots will eat peanuts and other nuts that have been removed from their
shells. However, their nut consumption should be truly limited to one nut per day, since
the adult females have a tendency to become fat. Eclectus parrots were not designed to
consume large amounts of nuts--most Eclectus cannot even open an almond shell, much
less a walnut. This tells us that their beaks were designed to cut through the skin of
green nuts in the early process of forming, or to cut off flower and leaf buds, and to
gather various fruits and berries, but not hard-shelled nuts. Eclectus parrots, like most
other parrots, will choose to eat sunflower seeds first if they are provided in a seed mix
or sprouting mix. Eclectus seem to do best when provided with sprouted seed mixes,
rather than dry seed mixes. In order to acquire the needed vitamins and minerals to
maintain good health and beautiful condition in the beak and feathers, Eclectus need a
variety of fresh vegetables and fruits on a daily basis, not a weekly basis.
One problem faced by Eclectus owners is the myth of the great need for vitamin A. This
myth has encouraged many Eclectus owners to provide additional vitamins to an
otherwise excellent diet, resulting in a condition known as vitamin toxicity or vitaminosis.
Journal articles on this condition have been written by respected avian veterinarian Dr.
Gregory Harrison. Therefore, it is wise to provide the birds with vitamins in their natural
form which can be shed if overconsumed. Beta carotene (the precursor to vitamin A) is
found in many vegetables, such as peppers, sweet potatoes and dark, leafy greens such
as chard or commercially grown dandelion greens (available in many grocery stores).
Pomegranates provide potassium and vitamin C. Placing man-made vitamins on top of a
good diet of fresh soft foods can result in an imbalance in the bird which is demonstrated
by muscle spasms, most notably toe-tapping or wing-flapping, or by skin irritation
leading to uncontrollable chewing of feathers, and also behavioral problems such as
irritability and unusual “touchiness” when companion birds are handled. It is important
that Eclectus owners be very conscious and careful about adding vitamins to their
Eclectus parrots’ diets. Even breeding birds can become overly irritable and aggressive
toward their mates when fed excessive vitamins. Present studies of the nutritional needs
of parrots have not completely addressed the special needs of Eclectus parrots. Until this
is done, it is wise to be extremely cautious about adding any man-made vitamins to
Eclectus parrots’ diets.
Pellets
Many pet owners and bird breeders now feed commercially prepared pellets to their
birds, most often as the dry food component of the diet. I use a commercial pellet,
Roudybush Maintenance, as a part of the Eclectus parrot diet. This generally comprises
less than a quarter of the total food provided, the major portion being a variety of soft
foods, some fresh fruits and vegetables, some soaked and cooked or sprouted or a
mixture of these. When birds have been on a seed diet and changed to pellets, the owner
needs to know that the birds recognize the pellets as food. Otherwise, the birds may not
eat them and may eventually starve to death. Bird breeders have had this happen,
especially to birds unfamiliar with pellets.
A different concern has developed with the widespread use of pellets for parrots. It
seems that colored pellets consumed by Eclectus parrots, both companion birds and
breeding birds, may dramatically affect the ability of the Eclectus to grow normally
colored feathers after they molt. This does not seem to occur with all Eclectus all the
time; it seems to occur most often with vosmaeri females and to affect their red
feathers. The vosmaeri females will consume the colored pellets, and when they molt,
the new feathers (which should be red) are yellow or red with yellow stripes. If the bird
eats a lot of colored pellets, even the beak may turn yellow. This condition has appeared
in aviaries across the U.S. When the colored pellets are removed from the diet, the bird's
new feathers (when they molt again) generally come in colored correctly.
How this change in feather color occurs is not known. However, based on anecdotal
observations, it can be postulated that the chemical components in the colored pellets,
once absorbed by the bird's system, prevent the feather follicle from utilizing the
available and necessary nutrients that produce the normal red feather color. Some of the
companies that produce colored pellets in the U.S are aware of this situation and are
seeking answers to it. To my knowledge, studies have not been conducted on what
happens to the coloring agents once they are in the bird's system. When solid data
becomes available, it will be publicized. Until that time, it is wise to avoid feeding colored
pellets to Eclectus.
Minerals
It is important to provide the proper balance of minerals, such as calcium and
phosphorous. In order for the adult breeding females to maintain adequate calcium in
their bones when they are producing eggs, properly balanced calcium supplements must
be provided. Eclectus parrots will lay clutch after clutch if they are allowed to do so. The
results can be disastrous and even deadly for the female Eclectus when she is not
provided with an adequate supply of calcium. Caring, competent bird breeders do not
allow or encourage Eclectus hens to produce clutches year round. They know that doing
so will make the breeding hen's bones brittle from lack of adequate calcium and her
upper beak deformed by ridges.
However, it does not mean he wants one. In my experience, most of these males will
either completely ignore a female Eclectus or attack her with the intent to chase her
away or kill her. It is important to understand that a natural programmed behavior is
being expressed. It is also important to understand that in most cases, these males have
had no experience or interaction with female Eclectus and also have no desire to do so.
They are acting out an instinctive behavior, but they have not had the opportunity to
learn how to apply it to a female Eclectus. They are most often past the developmental
timeline where they could learn how to interact normally with a female bird. That is why
many bird breeders not only hand-rear and handle young birds so they are good human
companions, but during their early development place them in brooders and cages with
other birds of the same species, hopefully of both sexes. This provides opportunities for
normal intra-species socialization, which makes it possible for companion birds to later
become breeding birds if the situation warrants.
Beware of the phrase, "The bird is plucking because it wants to breed." Plucking around
the legs and in the center of the belly area in females may indicate nesting urges.
Plucking on shoulders, around the neck and upper breast is more likely an indication of
severe frustration or irritation or a bacterial infection of the skin. Most behavioral
plucking by males is an indication of anxiety, anger or frustration. Frustrated and/or
anxious birds are generally in situations where something is or was bothering them
greatly from which they could not escape.
Eclectus will use nest boxes of many types. I use rectangular boxes and Z-boxes.
Rectangular nest boxes can be hung at an angle, which provides some depth for the nest
at the bottom end of the box. Pine or fir shavings make excellent nesting material. It
helps to provide a length of 2 by 4 pine fixed firmly to one wall of the nest box so the
hen has something to work on inside the box so her urge to make nest shavings can then
be satisfied. When metal nest boxes are used, the floor should be lined with plywood.
Many Eclectus parrots are unconcerned about human presence when they are mating.
However, they can be extremely distracted by other noisy or displaying species of most
birds, such as Amazons or macaws. Eclectus pairs may forego the mating process, and
the hen will lay infertile eggs when the pair is located in an aviary full of noisy conures or
next to displaying cockatoos. Sometimes copulation takes place inside the box, on the
perch or on the floor of the cage. Eclectus produce better in the company of less noisy
birds, such as African greys and other quieter species. The best situation is to have only
Eclectus parrots in the same area.
Once the eggs have been laid, the hens generally keep the males out of the box. The hen
may start sitting the day after the first egg is laid. Incubation is 28 days. Chicks hatch
without significant down and must be brooded closely by the hen until they grow their
first down of grayish black, which is thick and keeps them warm. Domestic-raised
Eclectus that have experienced being fed by their parents generally make good parents
themselves. If the hen was hand-reared from Day 1, she may have to learn how to feed
her own babies. Some hens never learn this very well. Stunted adult males used as
breeding birds do not prove to be adequate parents in that they are not able to feed the
hen as often as she requires food for the babies. That is one reason it is important that
breeding birds be selected for good conformation as well as good health. It is also
important that breeding birds be maintained in top physical condition and excellent
health in order to produce and raise healthy chicks.
Hand-Rearing Eclectus
Chicks can be pulled for hand-rearing at 2, 3 or 4 weeks. When the chicks are pulled
from the nest, the hand-feeder should wait until the crop empties completely before
starting hand-feeding. I use a commercially produced formula, Roudybush 3, to which
Gerber dry cereal is added (one part dry cereal to seven parts commercial formula to
provide texture and prevent clumping when the formula is mixed with water). Jar
vegetables and fruits for human babies are also added to the formula at about 1 part
vegetable to 4 parts liquid formula. Only distilled water is used in preparing formula since
too many public water supply systems are contaminated with bacteria and unknown
chemicals that are dangerous to the parrot chicks. Formula is fed at the consistency of
thick yogurt or cereal when chicks are 2 or 3 weeks old.
Day 1 Chicks
Day 1 chicks are fed a thin, runny mixture of Pedialyte and Roudybush formula. At each
feeding, the formula is mixed slightly thicker. By the second and third day, dry cereal is
added to the mix, which is slowly thickened over the next two weeks. Chicks are fed
approximately 9 percent of total body weight after the first couple of days. Chicks are fed
every two hours or whenever they are empty. The critical element for Day 1 Eclectus
chicks is that they be kept in a brooder that is heated to 99 degrees Fahrenheit for the
first couple days. By Day 3 the temperature is reduced to 98 degrees and slowly reduced
so that by the second week the temperature is about 94 degrees.
However, brooder temperature is always adjusted according to the needs of each clutch,
based on their reactions to the temperature. Moving air in the brooder is not allowed to
blow on the bare chicks, since it will dehydrate them. Chicks are housed in small tubs
lined with clean, disinfected wash cloths with one edge of the cloth folded over the top so
the chicks do not get a draft. Paper towel is too harsh and does not provide a
comfortable nest for these bare chicks. Small pieces of paper towel can be placed on the
bottom of the small tub as a liner to collect feces so that the wash cloth does not have to
be changed at each feeding.
Temperature is measured with thermometers that have been calibrated for accuracy
against a laboratory-grade thermometer. Otherwise, you cannot be sure about the true
temperature of the brooder. Also, temperature must be measured in a cloth-lined tub at
the location where chicks are placed, not on the side of the brooder (and not in the same
tub with the chicks since it will read their temperature).
Another way to control heat in the brooder is with toweling. For tiny babies, all sides and
the bottom must be lined with toweling to keep in heat. The tubs with babies are then
placed onto the toweling on the brooder floor. A thick towel is also placed over the top. If
the temperature of the room is very cold, toweling can also be placed around the
brooder. In warm climates or environments, less toweling is needed. As chicks grow,
they are moved to larger brooders. Eventually all toweling is removed and chicks are
placed in the brooder on a 1/2-inch wire grid which feces fall through. Throughout their
hand-rearing development, Day 1 chicks require more careful temperature management
than chicks pulled from the nest.
In summation, Eclectus parrots, like other parrots, have their own unique set of basic
needs and behaviors, both instinctive and learned. When owners understand and respect
the birds' needs and work with their natural behaviors, they are rewarded with
outstanding companion birds and productive breeding birds of unsurpassed beauty.
Hand-grootbrengt Eclectus